Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dog Loves Counting
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 7
Random House, 2013 ISBN: 978-0449813423
Dog loves books and he loves to read book so much that he often reads late into the night, even though he knows that he needs to get his beauty sleep. Eventually Dog decides that it is time to set his book aside. He puts on his sleeping mask and prepares to doze off. The problem is that he cannot seem to fall asleep.
Dog tries counting sheep but the sheep are not at all helpful. Maybe what Dog needs to do it to count some other kind of animal. Dog opens a book about animals and the first thing he encounters in the book is an egg. He counts “One,” and then watches as the egg cracks open. A funny looking baby dodo steps of the egg and into the world. Dog is Number One, and the dodo is Number Two, and now they have to find Number Three.
Dog and the dodo walk through the book looking for Number Three, and eventually they find a sloth sitting in a tree. The sloth has three claws on each paw and so he becomes Number Three. Counting from one to three as they go, Dog, the dodo, and the three-toed sloth wander through the book looking for Number Four.
By sheer good luck the three animals meet a desert camel. Since it has four legs, it is perfectly suited to be their Number Four. Not only that, but the camel assures Dog that his home in the desert is full of things that they can count.
Learning how to count can be fun, if you are a little creative, and in this book Louise Yates has found a wonderfully creative way to make counting interesting. She combines tools for learning with a story that pulls the reader into Dog’s book world. As we read we cannot help wondering what is waiting for us on the next page. What new animal is Dog going to encounter, and what new adventure is he going to have?
This is the third book in a series of picture books that feature Dog.
