Cat Count

I just got this book and I love it!! It has great ryhmes and there's a beat that comes along naturally when reading it!! I think it will be a big help in simple math skills and in phonetics skills! The pictures are great, very lively - all in all a very cute book!

Popular children's author/illustrator Betsy Lewin has endeared herself to many a young heart, and she does it again with "Cat Count." With playful pictures of cats of every stripe and color plus lilting rhymes young readers will have fun counting the cats owned by ten people - that's a lot of felines! By the time children reach "My teacher has eight. Eight cats. Great cats. Proper and sedate cats. Seldom ever late cats," they'll be laughing with pleasure as they try to keep track of this ever growing tribe. There's a surprise in store when the author's one cat, a "fat, fun cat" noticeably increases the populace. Suggested for ages 3 - 7. - Gail Cooke

This full-color edition of "Cat Count" is a welcome improvement over the original 1981 black-and-white original. The title has always led one to believe this is another one-to-ten counting book, when in fact it's a purr-fectly charming game of addition set to rhyme. "Cat Count" is a lesson in addition, cleverly camouflaged as a sing-song rhyming picture book. Spread one introduces us to the author's "one cat, a fat cat, a fun cat..." leading next, naturally, to her sibling's pair or felines: "My brother has two./ Two cats / True cats / Wild and ballyhoo cats. / Full of derring do cats." In the upper right corner, the illustrator sneaks in a "+2," starting us on a continuing tally on the next pages that add 3 more cats, then 4 more, and 5 more. "Count them! All together that's...How many cats? Fifteen." By the end, there are 55 cats in all, dancing the cha cha, chasing butterflies, unrolling yarn balls, howling and just causing all sorts of typical cat-astrophes. Fifty-five cats! But wait, remember the first fat cat? She has a surprise that calls for a recount... Author/illustrator Betsy Lewin has come up with a fun concept, well-conceived, and humorously drawn in big, bold, inviting sketches. Recommended for children four and up, to hone their math and pre-math skills, and to simply have fun with numbers.