1 to 20, Animals Aplenty

This adorably illustrated new addition to our counting books will be a hit with kids of all ages. In 1 to 20, Animals Aplenty by Katie Viggers, each number is represented by a group of animals either doing or wearing something silly that rhymes with the animal name, like “5 goats wearing coats” or “16 chickens reading Dickens.” In addition to the number recognition, counting, and rhyming practice that the book provides, there is a ton of great information about the animals. On several pages, next to the pictures of the animals, are the names of those particular species of animal. For instance, the shark page shows gray reef, hammerhead, blue, and great white sharks. The same is done on pages featuring goats, baboons, pigs, bears, cats, kangaroos, dogs, badgers, and birds. By the time you’re done with this one, your kids will be animal experts, as well as little counting and rhyming machines! J

Sports Illustrated Kids Rookie Books

For all of the mini-athletes out there (or children of sports-loving parents), we’ve got some new non-fiction books that are part of the Sports Illustrated Kids Rookie Books series by Mark Weakland. And, I must say, they’re pretty fun. The first one, Football ABC, goes through all of the letters of the alphabet using football terms. Not only does each letter represent a football word—action, ball, coin toss, and so on—but with each word comes a description that is really helpful in learning about the sport and building vocabulary. For instance, the F page says: “F is for fumble. Uh-oh! When a player drops the ball, it’s a fumble.”

Hockey Counting is set up similarly. In this one, it follows the numbers 1 through 12 and provides hockey lessons and photograph descriptions on each page. For number 6, it says: “Each hockey team is allowed six players on the ice at a time. Five skaters and one goalie wait patiently for the game to begin.”

And if all that wasn’t enough to sell you on these books, there’s more; they both include a glossary, an index, a list of other suggested titles about football and hockey, and information about a website that has links to other sites (researched by the SI staff) related to the books. Not too shabby, eh? And apparently if you spend too much time with that hockey book, you start speaking like a Canadian… J

20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street

 

Truck lovers (and parents of truck lovers), rejoice! Mark Lee’s new book, 20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street, will surely have you singing its praises. This counting book begins as an ice cream truck breaks down in the middle of a street, blocking the road. The narrator, a little boy watching everything unfold, sees one truck after another line up behind the ice cream truck, unable to move. Finally, with twenty trucks stuck in the road and lots of people in the streets wondering what in the world to do, the little boy suggests that they use a crane to move the ice cream truck out of the way. His plan is successful, and all of the trucks are finally able to drive away. All except one, that is: “Just one truck on the side of my street. An ice cream truck selling everything sweet.”

 

Your truck-adoring little one will enjoy seeing and reading about all different types of trucks, from mail trucks and garbage trucks to cement mixers and tow trucks. You’ll love all of the new vocabulary words, the rhyming text, and the counting practice! So, unless you’re stuck behind a bunch of stationary trucks on the road, there’s no excuse for waiting to get to our library to check out this new book!