Book Description
for How to Count to One by Caspar Salmon and Matt Hunt
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A “fun new counting book” that directs readers to simply follow the instructions opens with counting a single apple: “Correct! One!” It moves on to counting something bigger (a single elephant) before a spread with two large whales and the question, “How many … sausages do you see?” (Answer: one, balanced atop the water vapor spouting from a blowhole.) With each page turn, a varying number of objects appear paired with a query, but the answer to each question is always “one.” The narrator insists that the reader will only ever count to one, until the penultimate spread when they flub the question (answer: two) and then makes amends by awarding the reader a prize (#1) for being such a good counter. The delight in this picture book is not only in the gimmick of repeatedly counting to “one,” but in the many obvious but unstated counting possibilities for the beginning mathematician found in the cheery illustrations. (Ages 2–4)
CCBC Choices 2024. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2024. Used with permission.