Esther Sarfatti

Counting by Five is one of the new "Concepts" books published in 2008 by Rourke Publishing.

The topic of this one is the number five. Whereas some books approach the topic of beginning counting by showing items or subjects in ascending order -- one kitten, two kittens...-- the author has chosen to show pictures with only five. For example, a star fish with five arms, and a cake with five candles.

The book primarily uses photographs which are kid-friendly: five girls with five popcycles, kid-toes, dogs. But it also uses some drawings, like one of a big pink pentagon.

Unlike some of the "Concept" series other books, this one doesn't really stand out in the crowded counting concepts field. I think, for example, that they missed the opportunity to use the border on the top of the pages to show the numbers from 0 to 5. (They show just the number 5 and the word five.) I also noticed that the child I read the book to thought that the stars with 5 points, and the pentagon, were not terribly interesting.

Okay, Average Book. The book also suggest additional reading and some websites that might be fun.… (meer)