Ten Lively Lorikeets: Let’s Subtract

Ten Lively Lorikeets: Let’s Subtract, written by Grace Nolan, illustrated by Nancy Bevington (Little Big Sky) HB ISBN 0781922896599

Ten Lively Lorikeets is a picture book series for learning to count, add, and take away with Aussie animals. Fun and learning go hand in hand in this engaging series. Perfect for children from birth to seven, these books introduce counting, addition and subtraction through playful rhymes and vibrant illustrations. Over the series, young readers will discover 30 native Australian animals while developing early numeracy skills in a joyful, interactive way. Each book includes simple reinforcement activities to extend learning and keep the fun going.

In this book, subtitled ‘One to Ten and Back Again with Friends Series,’ readers are invited to learn the first steps in subtraction with the happy, larking lorikeets who are busy doing flying tricks. They do this with the help of ten different native Australian birds. These include galahs, magpies, wattlebirds, and a variety that most children can observe in their own environments, except maybe a lyrebird or emu chick.

“It’s so easy,” the lorikeets say, “Minus just means take away!”  (Some pages even feature simple sums for the reader).

The book starts with ‘ten lively lorikeets chatting in a line’; however, when one chases a kookaburra, there are only nine. Eventually, of course, after ten birds are chased or found, etc., there are none left (though they met again at the end of the book, and then there are ten).

The book is brightly coloured with lots of empty space and details of Australian fauna (such as gum blossoms, berries, and wattle). 

Something idiosyncratic the illustrator has done is to put red-and-white-striped jesters’ hats on the lorikeets, which might annoy parents reading the book to their small child/ren.