I thought this was such a cute book for students learning how to count. It incorporates personified animals and a story line about baking a cake to teach counting to ten. First off, young students are very drawn into texts especially when animals are given human like qualities, and who doesn’t want to read about a bear making a birthday cake! The actual book served as a great tool as well in aiding in the story because there were actual eggs in the beginning of the book that the reader is supposed to “take out of the cupboard” (under flaps at the back of the book) and place in a bowl. This is a great way for students to interact with the text and feel involved in the story while reinforcing their ability to count to 10 using eggs as the manipulative. A lot of teachers use worksheets or flipcharts to teach math lessons, but this book would be a great way for them to cross literature with basic math skills. The writing is very simple and makes it easy for students to comprehend the story or be instructed to add eggs. For example, on pages 5 and 6 it states, “Mrs. bear put all the eggs into the bowl, but only counted up to three! ‘Three-only three eggs?’ she said. ‘I’d better get some more.’ This time Mrs. Bear took five eggs from the cupboard” which is then followed by text indicating student participation, “Take five eggs out of the basket from the back of the book, and count them into the bowl for Mrs. Bear”. The main purpose of this book is to engage students in reading while reinforcing their counting skills. ( )