WILSON, Marika Come Count with Me! Allen & Unwin/The Little Big Book Club, 2014 unpaged $19.99 ISBN 9781743313435 SCIS 1676334
This sweet story features an enthusiastic little chick encouraging Nana to join her in counting from one to five. Nana, wearing glasses and a rather worried expression, seems to be quite confused about the correct sequencing of numbers. This may be a clever ploy by Nana to keep chicky on the right track through practice – or could also be read as depicting this Nana as extremely forgetful and confused. So in effect this book could be used with young children whose grandparent may be struggling with the effects of memory loss.
Charmingly illustrated with easy-to-read text, lots of white space, and a scattering of small objects to count on each double page (1 snail, 2 butterflies, 3 mushrooms, etc.) An interesting approach to counting as well as depicting a loving, patient and tolerant inter-generational relationship between Nana and chicky.
reviewed by Chloe Mauger
Editor’s Note: This book was produced through the Emerging Indigenous Picture Book Mentoring Project, a joint initiative between The Little Big Book Club and Allen & Unwin, assisted by The Australia Council. The project has supported the creation of four picture books, giving six indigenous artists and writers who have not previously produced a picture book, the opportunity to work with some of Australia’s best known authors and illustrators. Marika Wilson was mentored by Ann James.