Learning numbers big and small

Learning to count can be a fun experience. All you need are items to count, a fun counting book or two, and a lot of enthusiasm! Your child will quickly catch on and will be counting everything in sight in no time at all. Here are some suggested counting books old and new by Elizabeth Yetter at Suite101.com.

Counting Books

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh (Voyager Books) is a classic one-to-ten counting book that children absolutely love.

Who doesn’t love cookies? In Cookie Count: A Tasty Pop-up by Robert Sabuda (Little Simon), children learn how to count to ten while having fun with the nifty pop-ups. With illustrations of cookies, it’s enough to make any hungry adult drool.

If you have a little boy then you know that dinosaur books are an absolute must. In How Do Dinosaurs Count To Ten? by Jane Yolen (Blue Sky Press), children learn to count to ten with funny illustrations and rhyming text.

One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Ages 2–6. (Roaring Brook Press) This clever peek-a-boo book counts from one to ten and also reveals words within words. Young children will enjoy discovering the hidden words—when the boy is alone, the word "one" is revealed within "alone."

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury, Ages 3–5.(Harcourt) The rhythmic rhyming text in this picture book for very young children is addictive. Adorable multicultural babies are added with each new stanza.

Potato Joe by Keith Baker, Ages 4-8. (Harcourt) If it can rhyme with potato, Potato Joe and his nine potato friends have thought of it. The simple illustrations complement the rhymes in this counting book, and kids will be eager to turn the page to see what the silly spuds are up to next.

For children who love stories about animals, you’ll want to check out the Liberian folktale Two Ways to Count to Ten retold by Ruby Dee (Henry Holt and Co). In this story, jungle beasts learn to count. This is a great book for reading out loud.

Count! by Denise Fleming (Henry Holt and Co.) is a colorful book that teaches children to count from one to ten and then count by tens, ten to fifty.

Can You Count Ten Toes?: Count to 10 in 10 Different Languages by Lezlie Evans (Houghton Mifflin) is an exciting book because it teaches kids (and adults) how to count to ten in ten different languages.

Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert (Voyager Books) is a fun book on counting. Children quickly take to this book because of its bright colors.

Finally, if you’re just looking for a simple one to ten board book, check out Spot Counts From 1 to 10 by Eric Hill (Putnam Juvenile). It’s a classic counting book your toddler will love.

More Counting Ideas

Along with the counting books, there are other great things you can do with your child to teach her how to count. For example, some children like to sort out their wood blocks by color or shape. Help your child sort each block and then count how many blocks are in each pile. Always keep your eyes open for things to count. If you feed the birds, help your child count how many birds are at the feeder. Count flowers in your garden. Have your child help set the dinner table by having him carefully count out napkins or spoons. Count buttons on a shirt.

Here's Jim Holt, in The New York Times, with a further description of One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and some other math-related books for kids:

One Boy acquaints a child with the numbers from one to 10. Each number is introduced with a simple but charming trick: a rectangular cutout in the page reveals a bit of what lies overleaf, inviting the reader to make a guess at the surprise to come with the turn of the page. “Five mice.” Five mice what? Turn the page. . . . “Skate on ice.” It’s not just about counting; it’s about realizing that the word “ice” is contained in “mice.” Seeger’s palette is bold and rich — and those who experience numbers coloristically (in my case, four is blue, seven is green and eight is orange) know how important this can be in making friends with them. Yet the ending of “One Boy” is somewhat dark. (Spoiler alert: it involves a quantity of ants in the boy’s pants.)

For the slightly older child, The Real Princess: A Mathemagical Tale ought to prove a beguiling mix of number lore and fairy tale. The plot elements will be familiar: three princes looking for brides, a king with three bags of gold and a queen with nine magic peas. But running through Brenda Williams’s story is a riot of numerical coincidences, some turning on the curious fact that if you take various multiples of nine (18, 27, 36, 45 etc.) and add up the digits (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5), you always get nine back again. This is the kind of hidden pattern that children delight in discovering. And if some of the artsier parents fail to get it, they’ll at least smile at Sophie Fatus’s illustrations, which have a little of Marc Chagall in them, and a little of Joan Miró.

We’re all born with a genetically wired “number sense,” so brain scientists tell us. Even a baby can immediately distinguish two rubber duckies from three. But what if it’s a matter of thousands of rubber duckies floating toward you? To take a less ludicrous case, how can one make a reasonable guess about the number of protesters at a political rally, or of seeds on a dandelion? Don’t count, says Bruce Goldstone — ­estimate! And in Greater Estimations (a sequel to his Great Estimations, which makes the author guilty of serial Dickens abuse) he reveals all the tricks for doing this swiftly and accurately: eye training, clump counting and so on. Is that cool? I don’t know. But it’s empowering — dare I say fun? — to have an instinctive grasp of really big numbers. And, when you grow up, you can get a job estimating the size of the crowd when Simon and Garfunkel sing in Central Park.

Tips for reading with a toddler or infant

Here are some timely tips from Reading Rockets on how to read to your toddler or infant and make the experience fun and rewarding for both of you. Simple counting and picture books are available at your local library, free of charge -- just use the World Catalog search box here on BookBag to locate books at your nearest library.

Reading daily to your child is one easy resolution you can afford to keep in 2010 -- enjoy reading with your kids, and have a happy and healthy new year!

How to Read With a Squiggly Baby (or Toddler)

Parents know they should read with their child every day. But reading together requires that your baby or toddler will actually sit still long enough for a book! If you’ve got a squiggler in your house, see if these tips help your reading time go a little more smoothly:

1. Read before bed, but don’t wait too long!

Really tired little ones have a harder time focusing their attention. It may help to pull out your books before the bath, or right after dinnertime. If your child is too tired to read, don’t force it. Keep book times happy times.

2. Choose fun, brightly colored books

The most engaging books for little ones have lots of bright, big pictures. Board books, the ones with stiff cardboard pages, are great for little hands to hold.

3. Sing along, or have some rhyme time

Books meant to be sung, or books written in rhyme, mean that you and your child get to clap along, sing along, and bounce up and down to the rhythm of the language. The fun physical involvement will keep your child interested in reading.

4. Be expressive!

Don’t worry, no one but your child is listening! As you read the book, change your voice for each character. Say loud words

LOUDLY and soft words softly. Add hand gestures and foot stomping to go along with the story.

5. Keep your favorites by your side

Your child will begin to develop favorite storytime books. You know how the story turns out -- but plan to read those books until the pages fall apart! The repeated, enjoyable experience of reading favorite books goes a long way toward developing good reading habits. And the last tip ...

6. Help your child develop a reading habit

Every child develops reading habits differently! It’s important to recognize that reading with a really young child looks and sounds different than reading with an older child. It’s louder, with more action and movement. That’s okay! The simple interaction with you, your child, and a book sends a powerful message about reading.

Be sure to visit the Reading Rockets Read Aloud section for more articles, printables, and video.

Classic books for back-to-school reading

As summer vacations draw to a close and school-age children begin the mad scramble to fulfill their summer reading obligations, author Lesley Blume (author of Tennyson, Cornelia, and Rusty Nail) recommends a few timeless books that may not be on the required book lists. Blume, the author of several books for young adults, says that parents owe it to their kids to introduce them to these classic stories.

"It is our responsibility to introduce classics to the next generation, because there's such a flood of new titles on the book market right now, especially in young adult literature, and we have to make sure that the books that we love go into the hands of our own children," Blume tells Linda Wertheimer.

Her book list includes a fair number of books about orphans, because, as Blume says, kids seem naturally drawn to stories in which the parents are absent: "Any child can relate to the fantasy of creating a kids-only utopia from scratch in the woods... This is something you see over and over again in classic literature and films. No rules, no baths, no schoolwork."

Lesley Blume's recommended list of classic children's books

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Albert Whitman & Company)

The Witches by Roald Dahl (Puffin)

The Devil's Storybook by Natalie Babbitt (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster (Aegypan)

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers (HarperTeen)

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer (Random House)

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois (Puffin)

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg (Aladdin)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (Scribner)

The House with the Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs, illustrated by Edward Gorey (Puffin Books)

New books for young readers

Have you spent the summer re-reading books you've memorized by heart? Here are some great new books that will become fall favorites! Look for them on BookBag using the Amazon and World Catalog search boxes and get ready to make new fictional friends ....

Seaglass Summer, by Anjali Banerjee (Wendy Lamb Books) Realistic Fiction. Poppy Ray wants to be a veterinarian just like her Uncle Sanjay, who runs the Furry Friends Animal Clinic in Washington state. This summer, Poppy's parents are traveling to India to visit relatives--and Poppy gets to stay with Uncle Sanjay! She's thrilled that she'll get to help out in her uncle's clinic...but the actual experience is something of a wake-up call (for one thing, taking care of animals can be really gross). But Poppy's no whiner, and so, determined to do a good job, she braves grumpy clinic employees, kooky pet owners, and more than a little heartbreak in the line of duty. Looking for another story about kids helping animals? Check out Laurie Halse Anderson's Fight for Life.

House of Dolls, by Francesca Lia Block; illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Harper) Fiction. Dolls Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene live in a lavishly gorgeous antique dollhouse that once belonged to Madison Blackberry's grandmother and now belongs to Madison. Odd as it may seem, Madison is a bit jealous of the dolls; they, after all, seem to enjoy one another's company (unlike Madison's family) and even have boyfriends. In fact, Madison is a bit sick of watching the dolls live their perfect lives. This book isn't what you might expect -- and we don't want to give too much away -- but if you're looking for a dark and surprising story with marvelously elaborate drawings and more than a hint of fantasy, you'll want to peek inside House of Dolls.

Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House) Historical Fiction. Eleven-year-old Turtle is wise about the way things are. She's skeptical about her mother's belief in Hollywood-style happy endings, and despite grown-ups' belief that children are sweet, Turtle has "lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten." So, when Turtle's

mom takes a job as a live-in housekeeper for someone who hates kids, Turtle almost understands why she has to go to Florida and live with relatives she's never met. But that doesn't make her happy about it. Set in 1935 and packed with quirky characters, laugh-out-loud adventures, family drama, and references to '30s pop culture (Turtle likes Little Orphan Annie but can't stand sticky-sweet Shirley Temple), Turtle in Paradise is a great August read.

Spaceheadz, by Jon Scieszka and Francesco Sedita; illustrated by Shane Prigmore (Books for Young Readers) Humorous Science Fiction. As if starting fifth grade at a new school wasn't enough of a challenge, Michael K.'s new friends Bob and Jennifer aren't just oddballs who talk like commercials--they're aliens from outer space, and the class hamster, Major Fluffy, is their leader. Worse, the three extra-terrestrials (yes, the hamster can talk) inform Michael that, unless he helps them recruit millions of kids to be SPHDZ (Spaceheadz), planet Earth is in big, big trouble. There's a lot of wacky fun in this book, and it extends online: Bob has a Facebook page, Jennifer has a YouTube channel, Major Fluffy blogs and tweets, and you can track's Michael's recruitment progress (or become a SPHDZ yourself!) at sphdz.com.

Hawksmaid: The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, by Kathryn Lasky (Harper) Fantasy. You may already know legends about Robin Hood and Maid Marian, but have you ever wondered what they were like as kids? Author Kathryn Lasky weaves a brand new tale of Nottingham's heroes in this suspenseful adventure. After Prince John murders her mother and steals her father's fortune, young Matty assumes the responsibility of training her father's hawks--without their help hunting, she and her father won't survive. Years later, Matty takes the name Marian, and together with her friend Fynn (aka Robin Hood) and their merry band of friends, she helps fight against Prince John's rule. Fans of the author's Guardians of Ga'Hoole series (or Nancy Yi Fan's Swordbird) are sure to enjoy Hawksmaid, in which Matty's birds are fully-drawn characters.

Gator on the Loose! by Sue Stauffacher; illustrated by Priscilla Lamont (Alfred A. Knopf) Fiction. Keisha Carter is planning to practice her cannonball at the city swimming pool on the day that her family's wildlife rescue business gets a call from the pool manager. A young alligator has taken up residence in the pool! Luckily, Keisha and her dad know a lot about reptiles, and they head out with Keisha's fashion-obsessed grandmother and her bratty five-year-old brother to capture the 'gator and find it a better home. But as you might guess catching an alligator is no easy task. Animal lovers are sure to enjoy this first book in a funny and informative new series and should keep an eye out for volume two, Special Delivery.