365 How to Count a Year by Miranda Paul illustrated by Julien Chung

The front end paper shows all the numbers from one up to 365. The back end papers are filled with confetti! I think this means - we do not need to constrain our lives with numbers but they sure can be fun.

Yes, it does take 365 days for Earth to spin around the sun but it might easier to think of this as 365 "good mornings" and 365 "good nights" oh and "hopefully 365 clean pairs of underwear."

I love the tone of this counting book.

There are 52 weeks in the year but surely it is better to think of this as "52 Friday night movie popcorn spills."  There are 12 months in the year or "12 bulletin board ideas in Mr Winner's classroom." 

Of course, in one year we only have one birthday cake, one birthday wish, one birthday party. Be patient the next one is only 8,760 hours away. 

A bright, buoyant look at measurements, conventional and otherwise. Kirkus

This is a perfect book to add to your preschool collection or library. Hopefully you might also find it in your local school or public library so you can borrow this book to share with your own young reading companion. 

You can see other books by Miranda Paul here. I previously talked about this one:

Peace

There are so many brilliant counting books we can share with our youngest children. In your library go to [510] or for this book about the days in the year go to [529]:

One Fox

How to count to One

Lifetime

I am very keen to see this book illustrated by Julien Chung:

Read the Kirkus review

Circle Round by Anne Sibley O'Brien illustrated by Hanna Cha

Just when you think there surely are no new ideas for books you find a book that surprises you! There are children playing in all the different places found in their local park. Then when you look closer you see the children are all from different backgrounds (think inclusion). This is also a counting book with numbers one to ten plus a concept book about the circles we see all around us. Circles like paths, balls, bicycles, hoops, frisbees, monkey bar climbing rings, ground level water spouts (you will recognise these if you live in Manly (Sydney Australia), bubbles, marbles, balloons, and cookies! With a group of older children it this book could be used to talk about the way illustrators interpret a text. 

Circle Round was published in 2021 and it is still available but here in Australia it is fairly expensive. If your budget allows this would be a good book to add to a preschool library collection. 

Bookseller blurb: an inspiring new story of inclusion. One child in the park waves over a second child. Two children then wave over a third. Counting from one to ten, a growing circle of children see new faces outside the group and invite them over. Children of different abilities, ages, genders, and races demonstrate how easy it can be to expand your group, extend yourself, and welcome new friends.

This ode to kindness and a welcoming spirit is cheerful and textually minimal, focusing on number words one to 10, active verbs, and the words circle or circles in boldfaced larger type. Kirkus

The message of inclusion, underscored by the illustrations casual diversity in characters’ skin tones, ethnicities, genders, and abilities, is clear for very young children—all of whom would likely be welcomed enthusiastically into this circle of friends." The Horn Book

Hanna Cha is a Caldecott honour recipient for her book The Truth about Dragons.

Anne Sibley O'Brien is an author and an illustrator. She lives on an island in Maine. You can read about her childhood in Korea as the child of missionaries here. She is the co-founder of I'm Your Neighbor Books in Portland. This looks like a fabulous resource rather like our wonderful Lost in Books here in Sydney. Read more about the way I'm Your Neighbor share their book collections. Here is a 2016 interview with Anne Sibley O'Brien. 

I love this image of the questions the children planned to ask during an author visit and also here you can see some of her books.

One Little Dung Beetle by Rhian Williams illustrated by Heather Potter and Mark Jackson

"One little dung beetle rolling up some poo, 
working very hard like a beetle likes to do."

In this clever jaunty rhyming, counting book we meet ten different beetles. MG Leonard, author of Beetle Boy, Beetle Queen and Battle of the Beetles would adore this book - hope it reaches her from Australia. (Note these are for readers aged 10+). Read about Beetle Boy here. And look for Masterpiece by Elise Broach - another wonderful reading experience. 

Now back to this book - yes, One Little Dung Beetle is told in rhyme and hooray the rhyme works so well. But this book is so much more. Yes, it is a counting book too, but it is also filled with rich words such as:

• nudges
• insistently
• drumming
• zooming
• glint
• breeze

And there are so many interesting beetles with more of them illustrated on the final pages - Pie Dish Beetle; Water Penny Beetle; Whirlygig Beetle; Texas Beetle; Jewell Beetle; Bombardier Beetle; and Tortoise Beetle. The ten special beetles from the main book are profiled on the final double spread and yes there are some of my favourites - the Christmas Beetle; Click Beetle; and Rhinoceros Beetle along with a new one (to me) the Feather Horned Beetle. Look out for the Ladybird on the end papers - yes she is a beetle too. And one more bonus - all of the beetles in this book are Australian or found in Australia! Special mention - the end papers are spectacular. Surely these will make you even more curious about beetles.

This book is another fabulous nonfiction discovery. This needs to be added to your school or preschool library - pop it on your list. It's not too expensive (thank goodness). AND I am certain we will see this book on the CBCA (Children's Book of the Year) 2025 Notables list and hopefully even the short list. Here are the teachers notes from the publisher Wild Dog.

With stunning endpapers, and accurate anatomical illustrations throughout, this offers an insight into the prevalence of beetles in the landscape and the critical role they perform in keeping it healthy and vibrant.  ... Give it with the gift of a magnifying glass and see the joy and wonder explode.  The Bottom Shelf

Here's another new counting book I talked about recently:

One Tiny Treefrog

And look for this one too:

Rex the Rhinoceros Beetle

And this one is essential reading:

Where are all the Christmas Beetles?

One Little Duck by Katrina Germein illustrated by Danny Snell

"One little duck went out one day, over the hills and far away. Mother duck said ..."

Wait a minute mother duck said - moo moo moo - no no no - what is going on here? A cow now joins the group. 

"Two happy friends went out one day, under the fence and through the hay. Mother duck said ..."

Bow-wow wow-wow! and so a dog joins them along with a chicken, a lamb, a donkey and a pig - seven happy friends. But what about Mother Duck? She is still calling for her baby - but it is okay "Mum I'm back!"  This long parade of farm animals reminded me of Who sank the Boat?

One Little Duck has been shortlisted for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Early Childhood Picture Book award. This category is for children aged 0-6 and One Little Duck is certainly a preschool book. It will fit in well with all the Nursery Rhymes I hope preschool educators share with their groups every day. With very young children you should also notice the animals in the scene near the end are reading a famous book - The Three Little Pigs. Also, all the way through the mother duck has been shopping and, in each scene, the hungry animals are holding out their bowls waiting for her delicious food. It might be fun to talk with your group and try to guess what she has been making. I love the way Danny Snell has added another story layer with his illustrations in this book. 

Each evening, as she tries to find her quack, the roll at the tea table grows in length and diversity but she remains unflappable, just getting out a bigger cooking pot and more dishes and cutlery each time.  Until one night… The Bottom Shelf

One more thing - did you spy a lighthouse in some of the illustrations?

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. And some others are here. 

You can read the judges' critique: Children acquainted with the traditional rhyme, Five Little Ducks, will be delighted with this inventive and surprising picture book about a mother duck who has forgotten how to quack! The familiarity of a farmyard setting is used throughout and the amusing farm animals are the heroes of this story. Page design and an engaging illustration layout together with the endpapers subtly connecting to wallpaper inside the duck house, combine with the lively, humorous text to create a cohesive and enjoyable reading (or singing!) experience. Every element of this book has been carefully considered, from the narrative pace to the visual humour, providing countless opportunities to revisit and retell stories, and to discuss and explore concepts such as sequencing and counting.

The award-winning author and illustrators have done a remarkable job in reimagining one of our favourite nursery rhymes. This is a much-loved picture book, one which all families should add to their collection. Reading Time

Here is the original Nursery Rhyme:

Five little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mama duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

But only four little ducks came back

Four little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mama duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

But only three little ducks came back

Three little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mama duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

But only two little ducks came back

Two little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mama duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

But only one little duck came back

One little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mama duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

But none of the five little ducks came back

Sad mother duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Sad mother duck said quack, quack, quack, quack

And all the five little ducks came back

Image source Itsy Bitsy Music

I have a very small Pinterest collection of Songs in Picture Books. I would also look for these books by Tony Wilson:

See more books illustrated by Danny Snell. Here are two other books by Katrina Germein I have previously talked about:

Before you were born

Bev and Kev

One Tiny Treefrog: A countdown to survival by Tony Piedra and Mackenzie Joy

This story starts with ten eggs, but red-eyed treefrogs usually lay clutches of closer to forty eggs on leaves that overhang ponds or temporary pools of water. 

This is a wonderful nonfiction book which could be read across a wide range of ages. It is a counting book yes but it also a book about the lifecycle of the treefrog but then when we reach zero older readers will understand this little frog is another of the precious endangered creatures found in our world that need our protection.

This book is set in the low land wet forests of Costa Rica which is home to more than 12,000 plants, 800 birds, 400 reptiles and amphibians, 200 mammals and 175 freshwater fish.

Here is part of the text:

Ten tiny tadpoles grow in their eggs.

Nine alert tadpoles begin to wiggle free.

Eight wriggling tadpoles plunge in to a watery new home.

This book employs some excellent design features. End papers filled with frog eggs, there is a page you turn long-ways to see the plunge (read the line above), four pages of background information and facts, well-paced page turns, scientific names in small print on some pages where we see other species living in this wet environment and shiny paper with interesting colour changes on each page. You can see inside One Tiny Treefrog here. 

Publisher blurb: Deep in the tropical forest of Costa Rica, ten sticky frog eggs cling to a leaf. Only nine eggs hatch. Only eight tadpoles wind up in the water below. What will it take to survive the countdown to adulthood and begin the cycle again? This beautifully designed, color-drenched introduction to frog metamorphosis peeks at this animal’s habitats and predators as it illustrates competition and natural selection. Cocreators Mackenzie Joy and Tony Piedra have crafted a dazzling spin on the life of one of nature’s darlings, the red-eyed treefrog. Back matter invites budding naturalists to discover even more treefrog facts, revisit the pages to spot other Costa Rican species, and check out a bibliography.

You might find this nonfiction book in your school or local library:

Many years ago I also had this book which had photographs of ceramic sculptures - I should have kept it because I see it for sale for over AUS$50.

Tony Piedra grew up in Houston, Texas, chasing lizards in the backyard and capturing great adventures in his sketchbook. Eventually, he relocated to California, where he worked for many years at Pixar Animation Studios, building environments for some of the studio’s most popular movies, including Up and Coco. He is the creator of The Greatest Adventure, his debut picture book, and lives in northern California. Mackenzie Joy, as an artist, loves to scribble and paint on nontraditional canvases. As a writer, she enjoys finding the perfect rhythms, sounds, and words. As a storyteller, she wants to share stories that are quirky, hopeful, and thought-provoking. Mackenzie Joy lives in northern California. Books Up North

Here is an interview with Tony Piedra and Mackenzie Joy - they met and are now married. And here is their new book due out next month:

Julia Donaldson and Sharon King-Chai

 

Recently I have seen a few requests on Facebook forums asking for books to gift a young child or books for a baby gift or books that could be keepsakes.  I think these three books are so perfect. Julia Donaldson is a master with language and Sharon King-Chai produces exquisite art.

These books have flaps and die cuts (holes) and richly coloured illustrations. You can buy hardcover or paperback editions. If you can buy all three books they would be a beautiful gift. 

Counting creatures is indeed a counting book but it also introduces a young child to the names we use for animal babies - all told in gentle rhyme with a repeated refrain - 'Who has more babies that that?' You can see inside this book here.

The wild dog has four pups; the owl has five owlets; the arctic hare has seven leverets; the turkey has fifteen poults; and the frog has twenty-five tadpoles.

Then there is the delicious language: the cubs are tottering, swaying, pouncing and playing; the pups are nosing and nestling, writhing and wrestling; and the baby mice are pattering, pawing, nibbling and gnawing.

Sharon King-Chai says: The paperback cover for a rich and beautiful counting book full of gorgeous baby animals, with shaped pages, flaps and fold-outs - the cover was designed to be more seasonally appropriate as it is publishing in the spring (the hardback was autumn) and to include a die-cut flap.

See inside Colours, Colours everywhere here. 

See inside Animalphabet here. I talked about Animalphabet back in 2019.

 

One Thousand Things by Anna Kövecses

This would be a wonderful book to share with a preschool child. It is filled with things, although I don't think there are actually one thousand. You will also have fun searching for the little mouse on every page.

There are seven lists  - things to learn, things to do with you, things around the world, things in nature, things that you can do, things inside your house and things outside your house. Each list has around five double spreads. For example: Things to do with you - What are the parts of your face called? What are your five senses? What are the different parts of your body? What would you like to wear today? Who is in your family? My favourite pages are What can you find in the shed? and What are the parts of your face called?

Though there are many words and objects in 'One Thousand Things', unlike some other 'first word' books that I have seen, this edition goes beyond pages of themed things. What is presented here are concepts; the stuff of everyday life that grownups may take for granted but little ones must learn. Weather, body parts, colours, seasons are all introduced with a question to frame them and encourage interaction. Book Bag

The sound track might drive you crazy but you can see inside this book here - really though don't use the video - this is a book to hold in your hand, to share slowly, to dip into, and to talk about.

This book was published in 2015 but it is still available. It is from a series called Learn with Little Mouse. I picked up my copy at a charity book sale yesterday for just $5 (the retail price is $25).

Anna Kövecses is a Hungarian born artist living between a small seaside village of Cyprus and a woodside cabin by Lake Balaton, in Hungary. Her digital collages are characterised by simple organic shapes, bright colors and an atmosphere of simple naivety. Her inspiration comes from living by the Mediterranean Sea, growing up in Eastern Europe, being the mama of three small kids, baking fresh bread in the morning, picking oranges and growing veggies in their garden. When not working on commissioned projects she creates paintings in oil, experiments with clay ...

Take a look inside her Hungarian Alphabet Book.

This book is the result of a very personal project aiming to introduce a little girl to the 44 letters of the Hungarian alphabet. Illustrations were carefully designed so that every subject that appears in this book is something she's currently very much interested in. So in one way this book is not just a tool but also a diary documenting a four-year-old little girl's world in the summer of 2013 on an island of the Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand though, hopefully it will also serve as an equally exciting source of knowledge and inspiration for anyone interested in languages or design.

How to Count to One by Caspar Salmon illustrated by Matt Hunt

It's a bit anarchic and a bit absurd - Caspar Salmon

Blurb: A hilariously bossy picture book about counting that children will love to outsmart!  You know how to count, right? GREAT! There are LOADS of fun things to count in this book. Whales, baboons, rainbows, pyramids . . . There’s just rule. You must ONLY ever count to ONE. So don’t even about THINK bigger numbers. OK?!  Get ready to show off your skills in this fun new counting book! But all is not as it seems . . . is this book really only about counting to ‘ONE’? Because there are SO MANY fun things that you could count. But – wait – maybe there’s a way to outsmart the book . . . and count all the way up to 100!

A fun and interactive read-aloud experience - Nosy Crow

This is a book you MUST add to your school and preschool library and it would also make a terrific gift for a child aged 3+.  I am sure everyone will delight in this funny book and it will certainly fit into the category of "read it again ...".

Here is the full title: How to Count to ONE (And don't even THINK about bigger numbers!)

I also found a video of the author talking (to adults) about his book. 

I wrote the book for my children, who are whipsmart and like nothing more than to outfox me; I also wrote it for parents who get bored senseless reading ... picturebooks with cutesy stories and dreary "learning outcomes". It's meant to be a bit of a tonic! Casper Salmon

I would pair this book with lots of other counting books but especially this one:

Here are a couple of other books illustrated by Matt Hunt:

Where's my Jumper? by Nicola Slater

A super-cute, super-fun book with flaps, die-cut pages, and a counting element too. Read it Daddy

My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has a library display of knitting books and I spied this one with such an appealing cover. Take a look at her Pinterest of Yarn Yarns. 

"Rudy loved his pink jumper. It was a little bit short and showed his tummy. But it was his favourite. Then one Monday he woke up and it had gone!"

Rudy runs through the house desperate to find his jumper. His house is filled with creatures of all kinds - ten cats, nine llamas, eight piglets, seven dogs, six blackbirds, five sea creatures (in the blow up pool), four mice, three crocs, and two foxes but no one has his jumper. Where could it be? Turn one more page, lift one more flap and it is found. But what will Rudy do?

Sadly this book is out of print but you might find a copy a second hand copy - the board book (my was the hardcover edition) looks especially worth finding. 

The Twelve Days of Christmas illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

 The Twelve Days of Christmas

There are two points of difference with this version of the twelve days. Firstly every page contains a peep hole which culminates in the final resolution where we see all the gifts. Secondly this is the first version that I have explored which uses numerals for the numbers which gives the text a counting book feel.

So much thought has gone into this book ... The Book Bag

Britta Teckentrup is the illustrator of over seventy books. Her version of the twelve days was first published in 2014. I purchased a new paperback edition (2017) last week. There is also a board book edition of this title. She lives in Berlin. Her newest book is the wonderful poetry anthology Tiger Tiger Burning Bright.

Britta has five books with peep-through pages - Ocean, Moon, Bee, Tree and the one I have featured here.

Truman by Jean Reidy illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins

pensive

Truman is a small tortoise who lives with his friend Sarah. The city is filled with busy people and loud noises but Truman is peaceful and pensive and so is Sarah until the day something strange happens. Truman watches Sarah start her day in a different way - eating a huge banana, putting on a new sweater, strapping on an enormous backpack.  It was so big "thirty-two small tortoises could ride along in it - but zero tortoises did." Sarah gives Truman extra green beans - this is very puzzling and then:

"she kissed her finger and touched it to his shell and whispered 'Be Brave.' Then she left."

She left!! Truman is filled with worry. Will Sarah come back? Why did she take that big pack? And what's going on with those extra beans?

"Truman waited for Sarah to return. He waited. And waited. He waited a thousand hours - tortoise hours, that is - until he could wait no longer."

Truman knows he must catch the number 11 bus heading south. He finds a way (1,2,3) to climb out of his tank. The world outside (in Sarah's room) is huge and filled with danger but Truman keeps going. As he reaches the closed bedroom door he hears a noise. It's Sarah returning from school! Their reunion is so joyous.

You can see some of the illustrations from Truman here at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

The word pensive appears in this story four times. What a glorious way to acquire a new word. I think Truman is an essential purchase for every school library. It is a perfect picture book.

I won't say why but this flower is especially important in the story:

The emotions of Truman are clearly conveyed and his worry is tangible … Waking Brain Cells

TRUMAN is simply a beautiful book that I recommend to teachers,parents, writers, and readers. Basically, everyone. Nerdy Book Club

This little creature has big courage, something to which small humans can relate. Horn Book

Peaceful and pensive like Truman himself, this book charms;there’s just something uplifting and wonderful about the whole package. Kirkus Star

Here are the author and illustrator web sites.  I would pair this book with Felix and Alexander:

You might also revisit the classic story - Corduroy.