One Was Johnny Board Book: A Counting Book

"One Was Johnny" is a simple counting book for young kids. It uses that favorite element that all kids enjoy -- animals -- in a fun story of events in a count up to 10, then down from 10. The animals keep coming into Johnny's house, doing some mundane, some nonsensical things; what should Johnny do? (There is a token human, a robber who does merely trivial harm.) Johnny's method to get rid of the intruders bears an interesting twist with respect to the song-rhyme "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." All the counting pages have amusing illustrations. Johnny achieves his solitude, but the kids may wonder why he did not want to be with all the great animals. They will still love the book.

Unlike so many dull counting books (and their companion dull alphabet books), this book has a quirky attitude all its own. "One" shows Johnny happy alone, reading a book; as we count upward, a number of raucous animals and even a robber invade his home. We start to count down when Johnny threatens his uninvited guests, "I'm going to count backwards and when I am through/If this house isn't empty, I'll eat all of you!" My 16-month-old son loves it & so do I. I wish they made this in board book form.

I love this book. It is small and it is quintessential Sendak. My grandson loves the Carol King record "Really Rosie" and I was thrilled to be able to buy three of the books that coordinate with the C.D. that includes "One Was Johnny". The illustrations are darling, and we love to sing the whole book. I recently ordered two additional sets of this book along with "Pierre" and "Alligators All Around". They're all delightful.

This is a great book with one to ten -- unlike many, its forwards and backwards. The illustrations are classic Sendak -- a kooky little kid, and crazy animal friends. Nine arrive, and to get back to his solitude, Johnny counts backwards to make them leave. There are a lot of cute counting books out there, but this one has a twist no one else has picked up. The story line is nonsensical enough to hold interest for a long time.

My daughter who is 2 absolutely loves this book - she brings it to us to read over and over - she knows most of the words already!