Finally a new post! I am so sorry for such a long absence. September has been busy, busy. However, I am excited to share One & Other Numbers with Alexander Calder with you and hope to post more art-themed board books in the coming months.
What a fun book! I really wasn't sure if I'd like this one, not for lack of appreciation for Alexander Calder but because I think it's harder to excite a child with art-themed board books. Children of board book age are often more into sounds and meeting new friends like Otis, Little Blue Truck, or Peter Rabbit, but One & Other Numbers keeps a child's attention with a sense of suspense. How many round pieces are on this mobile? How do we find them all? Many counting books have children count animals or objects in a row, but this book keeps the child and parent on their toes as the child has to go searching for specific shapes, or colors, in addition to figuring where to begin counting when it comes to large mobiles with shapes and colors in every direction.
I also think the text throughout the book (for the most part) is very natural-sounding in the sense that I could see a parent saying similar phrases like, "One, two, three, four, five - wait! Slow down!" But like all good books, it's not the words themselves that make a great read-a-loud experience, but how the parent reads those words.
Board books are primarily about bonding with your child and if some of the phrases in this book like, "Okay, how would you count this? And this? Wow you're good" seem forced then by all means skip them. What I like about the book is that through the language it encourages parents to use animated phrases of their own. Sometimes it can be hard to try and read a board book to children depending on their age. Our daughter is not quite a year old yet and she still prefers chewing on board books as opposed to looking at them, but the more animated and silly I become while reading, the more interested she becomes in listening and watching.
I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as we enjoy it in our house. It's also a super fun book for older siblings who will jump at an opportunity to count things faster than you can.
