Cleo's Counting Book

Children's Literature

Cleo, a striped orange cat, strolls around what appears to be a farm with a pond. She counts, in ascending order, what she sees along the way. After she sees ten chicks, she counts in descending order from ten to one. Though the rhyme and rhythm of the text are sometimes absent, the counting concept is still clear. Numbers are re-enforced by the spelling out of the number in the text, a colorful display of the numeric number aside from the text, and an illustration of the object or objects Cleo sees. The illustrations are acrylic-painted and line-illustrated double-page spreads that perfectly portray the objects described in the text. The illustrations and text also work together because the language and the pictures are simple. Additionally, the illustrations make this a good book to show during story-time. A 5-foot high, (or 152 centimeters), chart is included with the book and will help older children learn the metric system. This book is a part of the "Cleo" series. 2003, Barefoot Books,
— Jackie Kirby

School Library Journal

PreS-The sweet, triangle-faced feline introduced in Come Here, Cleo (2001) and Cleo in the Snow (2002, both Barefoot) explores the outdoors as she counts bees, frogs, flowers, and trees in rhyme. A large, patterned numeral reinforces each concept, as does Cleo's finale of counting backward as she descends a flight of steps. Mockford's cartoon acrylics continue to appeal with their simplicity of shapes and highly charged colors.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.