Ten Black Dots

Childhood Education

"[This] bright, clean-lined counting book features remarkable colors and textures."

ALA Booklist

"Bold colors and briskly delineated graphics."

Children's Literature - Sharon Salluzzo

Black circles on simple, bold graphics capture the reader's attention immediately. Crews connects the dots with everyday objects thus making this concept book accessible to young children. One black dot becomes the center of the sun; two are the eyes of a fox. Spacing changes begin to introduce the concept of addition. For example, the eight dots that are the wheels of a train are split with four circles on the engine and then two groupings of two black dots as the wheels on the freight car. There are graphs at the end of the book that correlate the number with the numeral. Originally published in hardcover in 1968, the vibrant, clean layout continues to remain fresh. How nice to have this in a board book edition. For very young children, parents can use this for color and object identification, as well as beginning to introduce the concept of counting. The graphs appropriately present the next step and extend the book into the preschool years. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo