Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

This is a book I love.  We have had Ten Little Finger and Ten Little Toes for some time, but as my 2-year-old pulled it out tonight for her bedtime story, I was reminded again at its wonderful simplicity. It is a combined effort by author Mem Fox and illustrator Helen Oxenbury - so you know it will be fantastic.

The story begins:  “There was one little baby who was born far away. And another who was born on the very next day. And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes.”

The book continues to introduce children, born all over the world, some with sneezes and chills and others wrapped in eiderdowns, but all of the children "had ten little fingers and ten little toes.”   This simple refrain points out the common in all of us.  

The illustrations match the simplicity of the text.  Drawn in pencil and watercolor the images are large and uncluttered surrounded by a lot of white space on the page.  Babies are introduced in pairs and as the story progresses the babies continue on to meet the others - each one as huggable as the next.  

We have the full size board book version of this book and love it.  Whether you are looking for a good book to add to your young child collection or a gift for an upcoming baby shower - this is a book you will not be sad to have or give. 

Look! Another Book!

I’ve decided that May is the new January for me this year.  Or perhaps it is the promise of spring and warm weather ahead, but we finally seem to be crawling out of a winter filled with the usual sickness and stuck indoors-ness.  And I am ready. I am ready to de-clutter my house, paint my walls a new color, plant spring flowers and share my favorite books.  So welcome back.  Here’s to a great (new) start to the year.  Welcome Spring.

One book that has been pulled off the shelves time and time again this winter is Bob Staake’s new book, Look! Another Book!  It is everything you loved about Look! A Book! but with new pictures to peruse and lists to find. The colors are bright and the quirky, creative illustrations fill every corner of space – telling their own mini stories throughout the book. 

My 5-year-old son LOVES this book.  It always makes his stack of books to study during quiet time. He is a reader in progress so he needs help with the lists – but can spend hours flipping from page to page in search of just one more robot.  Or, by himself, he finds everything that makes him laugh on the page.  And trust me, there is a lot to find.