Counting with a Ladybird

One little ladybird goes for a walk; two dazzling dragonflies stand on a stalk.

On each page of this colourful book, one to ten animals march and waddle and sing their way through their various environments, helping young readers to learn their numbers. As well as counting, there’s also a finger trail that little ones can trace along on each page, which meaningfully mimics the action – for instance, going up and down when the nine ants go marching.

The language is well chosen, using alliteration and interesting verbs and adjectives that will widen young vocabularies – 'nibbling', 'dazzling', 'buzzy' and 'waddling'. Last, there’s a nice double-page spread at the end that summarises all the numbers and animals along one big finger trail.

There’s a lot to be learned from this clever yet accessible board book, meaning that it will be of interest to older babies and keep toddlers engaged, too.