Counting Birds

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Swans, swallows, peacocks, geese, and starlings appear in this charming story that leads children through a spring day from dawn to dusk. Deep in the countryside, the day begins with with a solitary cockerel's crow, sunlight falling on two lovebirds in a cage, and three china ducks on a wall. Magpies, chicken, and many more familiar birds are lovingly portrayed in Alice Melvin's intricate signature style, while a rhyming text makes this an ideal book to read aloud with children learning to count.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

This ornamental counting book features softly rhyming couplets that describe birds-real and manufactured-as they appear from dawn to dusk. One noisy cockerel's "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" stirs a sleepy house awake ("Three flying ducks, in a decorative row,/ are suddenly bathed in the bright morning glow"). Melvin's intricate ink illustrations create beguiling composition on each page, from the "nine handsome peacocks" strutting in striking blues and orange to the 17 starlings that gather on an shingled rooftop, "safe from the claws of the tortoiseshell cat." Playfully sophisticated, like an afternoon tea party. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2-This is a charming counting book, replete with lilting text and exquisite illustrations. Beginning at dawn with one cockerel, the narration moves through the day and into the evening, counting birds from 1 to 20, and ending with a solitary barn owl slipping into the night while everyone sleeps. The text, which is composed in couplets, counts birds both inside and outside a stately country house. The narrative has a decidedly British flavor, referring to the avian pattern on the crockery for afternoon tea and brown wrens hiding in the garden shrubbery. Each description cleverly captures the character of the different birds, some commonplace, like ducks and pigeons, and others more exotic, lovebirds and peacocks. "Nineteen black rooks flock in tumbling flight, returning to roost in the darkening night." In her bright and cheerful illustrations, Melvin employs geometric designs and patterns that bring to mind the warmth and comfort of a favorite quilt. Comparable to Tasha Tudor's 1 Is One (S & S, 1988) in its quiet elegance, this beautiful counting book may be paired with Doreen Cronin's humorous Click, Clack, Splish, Splash: A Counting Adventure (S & S, 2006).-Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.