The Ultimate Animal Counting Book

Jennifer Cossins

Lothian Children’s, 2019

136pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9780734418852

Start with one blue whale and finish with 100 fairy flies and in between meet and learn about 98 other amazing creatures in this incredible counting book originally created “to inspire children to learn more about the natural world” and to have them “enjoy, question, investigate and wonder.” 

Each featured creature (little ones can practise their counting skills to make sure the illustrator has drawn the right number) is accompanied by a collection of single-sentence facts. Some of the creatures like the zebras and lions will be familiar but who has heard of a gerenuk or a capybara?

In 2017 Cossins’ book A-Z of Endangered Animals was an Honour Book in the CBCA Eve Pownall Awards and this new book has just as much attention to detail and accuracy as it does appeal for the reader. As well as fascinate, it will inspire the budding zoologist and broaden the child’s knowledge of the diversity of this planet’s inhabitants and the critical role they play in its survival.