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1, 2, 3 to the ZooA Counting Book

by Eric Carle

Interest age: 1 to 5

Published by Puffin, 1990

  • Classics
  • Picture books

About this book

Eric Carle returns to toddlers' bookshelves with a delightful counting book. A train driver chugs along in his colourful steam train and as the pages unfold, young readers discover that each trailer holds one or more animals heading for the zoo, accompanied by a cheeky little mouse.

An enormous elephant starts the procession, swiftly followed by two hippos with cavernous mouths, three graceful giraffes, four fearsome lions, five quizzical bears, six toothy crocodiles, seven happy-slappy seals, eight mischievous monkeys, nine sinuous snakes and ten dazzling birds. Happily, they all arrive safely at the zoo.

Glorious two-dimensional illustrations in soft sponge-prints bring the animals to life and encourage counting without the need for words. This is a book to treasure.

About the author

Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, and more than 88 million copies of his books have sold around the world.

He is one of the best-known and loved of picture book creators. His work is immediately recognisable through his vibrant use of colour and tissue-paper collage. Eric Carle's most famous book is, of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

In the mid 1960s, Carle decided to give up a successful career in advertising to become an illustrator and graphic designer. His first published work appeared in a cookery book. Soon afterwards, children's book author Bill Martin asked him to illustrate the manuscript of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The resulting book was an instant hit. Encouraged by this success, Carle began submitting ideas for his own books. One of these was Willie The Worm. His editor suggested that a caterpillar might prove a more endearing character - the rest is history.

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