SPOT CAN COUNT

Spot Can Count is one in a series of books about Spot the dog.  My son pulled a whole bunch of these books out recently and has been enjoying them!

The Book
Spot Can Count is a paperback book but the paper is a thicker than normal paper made for toddlers and preschoolers.  It really is pretty strong and does not rip easily.  Spot Can Count was written and illustrated by Eric Hill.  This book is a lift the flap book with a flap on every page!

This book is illustrated with bright colors in simple designs.  There is not a lot of detail on each page but enough to tell the story very well.  It is not so much as to be distracting to young children.  The words are printed in large, bold type and there is only about a sentence on each page.  Each page features the numeral and written number of the item being counted as well, most of which are located under the flap.

There really is not much of a story in this book.  It is more of a counting book.  Spot and his father visit the farm.  Each page highlights a different animal and a different number. For example, there are 2 squirrels and 3 horses.  There are other animals as well such as cows, ducks, and pigs, to name a few.

My Thoughts
My son loves this book for it's flaps.  He likes being able to interact with a book by opening flaps!  In addition, since my son is 5, he can already recognize the numeral so we are working on learning the number words so this book is helpful with that as well.

When he was younger, my son really liked pointing to each of the animals and counting them.  This book is very good for young children just learning to count.  It gives them something to touch and allows for the one to one correspondence that children need to begin counting objects.

I like Spot because he is fun.  He gives young kids someone to identify with.  Even though he is a puppy, kids are able to relate to him well since he acts like a typical "kid."

Even though this book is not a board book, it is made with a thick enough paper that it is unlikely to tear under most circumstances.  This book has gone through both my daughter and my son and has held up well.  The flaps can be torn off if one is not careful but I have taught my kids to be gentle with them and all the flaps in this book are still intact even after oth kids (and sometimes their friends!) have read them.

Recommendations
I would recommend Spot Can Count for toddlers and preschoolers.  It is good to begin reading to babies as well but I would not leave a baby alone with this one or the flaps may not survive!  All of these age groups will enjoy the colorful pictures and the fun of counting!