Customer Reviews

1-2-3: A Child's First Counting Book

5 star:		(10)
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This is a beautiful, enchanting book. The illustrations are superb, the text simple and sweet leaving plenty of time to peruse the details of the pictures. There is a fairy tale theme subtly carried throughout. My 3.5 and 7 year old daughters both love this book.

This book is fun for both kids and adults. As with the "ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book", it's fun to look at the pictures and find the other things that also fit in that category (letter for the alphabet book or number for the counting book.) The pictures are pretty and detailed, and the fairy tale theme is appealing. It's fun to reread because we try to find other things we may have missed previously.

For a basic counting book, this colorful presentation also introduces children's stories like Jack and the Beanstalk. The bright, artistic, but not overly busy pictures encourage sharing, counting and relating the pictures to one another - all necessary reading skills. After the counting is done, read the whole fairy tale...there is a list in the back of the book. My granddaughter loves the book and we can't wait to add the extended stories to our reading repertoire.

My 18-month-old son loves this book. It has lots of fun details to look at, and has lots of objects he recognizes. He likes all the animals especially. I really enjoy reading it to him because the pictures are so lovely. It's also fun to tell him a few 30-second versions of the featured fairy tales as we look at the pictures.

This book is absolutely lovely. It is the best counting book that I have seen in children's literature. The pictures are captivating, and the technique of counting up to 10 and then going back down again is brilliant. Not only is it an important concept for little readers to begin to understand, but the imagery of going "up the hill" and back again harkens back to the hill imagery used elsewhere in Ms. Jay's books. Speaking of Ms. Jay's books in general, they are brilliant! Somehow I came across her illustration of the "Emperor Has No Clothes" (this might not be the exact title) a few years ago which I gave to my daughter. She is 8 years now (with a reading level way beyond her age) and she still loves the book. So do I. The power is in Ms. Jay's artwork! Then, a few months ago I caught a glimpse of "Picture This" (in board book format) in a charming toy store in Madison (or Chatham) New Jersey and immediately snatched it off the shelf. I recognized the artwork right away and purchased the book for my toddler son without need of further thought. Being the 110% boy that he is, he was not so interested in books until I gave him "Picture This." From the moment I first read the book to him he was hooked (along with the rest of the family). We began to notice the games that could be played with the book illustrations. I soon decided to check Amazon for other books written by Alison Jay. Lo and behold ... I found "123" and "ABC". I purchased them both. The three books together make a wonderful set because many of the illustrated themes flow through all three books. They are the core of my son's library and his most beloved books. To my delight he is now interested in other books as well. I want to add one final important point. The books that I purchased for my son are all board books. They are larger than most board books which is very important given the beauty of the artwork. (Approximately 8"x8"). These books are beloved in my household and have become standards in my gift giving for young children. This is the first review I have ever given on Amazon which is further indication of how much I like these books. I highly recommend "123" and the other books mentioned in this review.

Our 15-month-old wants us to read this book to her multiple times every single day. Starting with "1 little girl sleeping" and "2 soaring wings", each page includes a lavish drawing illustrating each number all the way up to "10 sharp teeth" and then all the way back down again to "2 dancing shoes" and "1 little girl waking". Each page contains an illustration of its caption--for example, the "10 sharp teeth" page contains ten sharp teeth in the mouth of a wolf dressed up as a grandmother in bed (from the Little Red Riding Hood story). But each page also contains so many more things to identify, like 10 cupcakes (9 in Little Red Riding Hood's basket and one being stolen by a mouse), 10 roses on the bedspread, 10 leaves and 10 cherries on the wallpaper, and 10 mice. Clearly, every element of every illustration is carefully considered.

We also love how familiar images reappear on many pages in different guises. On one page, the pumpkin is Cinderella's carriage while on another page, it is part of a shop display of vegetables. Even at 15-months, our daughter has fun identifying these common elements on every page. This one is a winner and will provide hours of reading fun for several years.

We have nearly all of Jay's illustrated books, and this one is probably our favorite. I wasn't sure if my 3-year-old son would be as enchanted as I am by the book, given the allusions to Cinderella, Snow White, and The Princess and the Pea (though among many others, Jay also packs in The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and the Gingerbread Man, all of whom my son enjoys). It has been such a pleasure seeing how he has been drawn into this book by all of the hidden details waiting to be discovered with each reading. The illustrations and the subtleties within are mesmerizing! And it is nothing but fun to see how Jay was able to weave together so many classic storybook characters. This book has resulted in many promises to return to the library so that my son can learn the stories that go along with several of the characters introduced. And then there is the whole counting element of the book - there are obvious and many not-so-obvious items to count on every page (which is fun for a three-year-old to tackle), and I am excited to have a counting book that so fluidly introduces counting backwards from ten. This book is simply wonderful in a whole bunch of ways. Click "add to cart" so that you and your little ones can love it, too!!

Alison Jay has done it again!

She is just such a wonderful artist. Big, bold, and bright colors used, and she always repeats and connects pictures on each page, so there is always something to look at. Nothing likes those dumb children's books you see out there in Barnes and Noble.

We own almost her whole collection and my daughter LOVES them since she was 6 months old (she's now 2 years and still looks at them every night).

Highly recommended!

Great Counting Book, very clever way of presenting numbers, and Ms. Jay's illustrations are as always beautiful!

This book is wonderful - my daughter LOVES it, as she loves all of Alison Jay's books, including Listen, Listen! Picture This...: A Child's First Picture Book and ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book. The illustrations are just beautiful in this one and in all of them - these books are great for learning first words and picture/word/letter/number association. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!