Counting book two: 1 2 3 A Child's First Counting Book

1 2 3:  A Child's First Counting Book
Allison Jay
Dutton Books (2007)



What I love about Allison Jay is her completely unique style of art.   I have a really hard time explaining art--it's hard to articulate what you see with your eyes.    But I am trying to practice this a little more.  

Her pictures look like something you would find in an antique store.  They have cracks in the paint. (she uses crackle varnish on top of oil).  The other unique thing about her is that she has so many fun and funny details. Each page is a world unto itself.  Every time we read a book by her we discover some teeny detail we had yet to notice.  

One of our favorites is Welcome to the Zoo which has so many hilarious details and continuity from page to page.  For example, on one page you can see a boy buying a balloon.  On another page his balloon is floating away and on yet another page the balloon is attached to a tree and a monkey is trying to get it down.  But I hadn't noticed this until Mirette pointed it out during the umpteenth time we had read it.   Another favorite book is Listen Listen for many of the same reasons.

Weird fact:  She is the illustrator for the baby products of Crabtree and Evelyn.
http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/ajay/id=1070/

Counting Book One: We All Went on Safari

Here is the first on my series of excellent counting books!!! 



We All Went on Safari:  A Counting Journey Through Tanzania
Author:  Laurie Krebs
Illustrator:  Julia Cairns
Barefoot Books (2003)

Here it is---the perfect mix of exploring diversity and learning counting (in both English and Swaihili)!   The pictures are so great, especially the Maasia kids who walk along counting animals like lions and warthogs.  The pictures are gentle and fun--you can almost transport yourself there with them.   The illustration have a sense of movement and whimsy.  The back of the  book includes animals of Tanzania, a translation of the names of the children, a description of the Maasai people, facts about and a map of Tanzania.

I love what Laurie Krebs has to say about herself and  want to check out more of her books like We're Roaming in the Rainforest!  I love that she gets a lot of ideas from her real life stories and her love of travel.  Her husband is a beekeeper so she wrote a story about him.   She also lives in a house from the Colonial times, so she wrote a series about that era.  http://www.lauriekrebs.com/.  

And I also LOVE what Julia Cairns has to say about herself.   We are going to get every book of hers we can:   The Spider Weaver,  Off to the Sweet Shores of Africa,   Mama Panya's Pancakes.  She has had a fascinating life--living in Africa, studying yoga and embracing a whimsical style of painting.  Her art is also on mugs, shower curtains etc.     http://juliacairns.net/books

I think that as parents it's helpful to read aloud books to our children that makes OUR HEARTS sing. Since I love travel so much, books like these really spark my interest and make me feel excited for life.