Ten Bush Babies: Let’s Add

Ten Bush Babies: Let’s Add by Grace Nolan, illustrated by Nancy Bevington (Big Sky Publishing) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN: 9781922896582

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

A baby tree frog is joined by a juvenile glider, then a jumping joey and many other young Australian animals. One by one, the group gets bigger and bigger. When there are ten, they line up to run a race. Who wins the cup?

Grace Nolan’s simple storyline shows three- to five-year-olds how to add up the numbers from one to ten – and the pages are so playful that the kids won’t even realise they’re learning. At the end of the book there are a few fun activities to reinforce the knowledge of addition.

Nancy Bevington supports the teaching of the text with an appealing assembly of characters hilariously accompanied by various baby accessories: dummies, rattles, bibs and bottles. Brightly coloured numbers present the sums to littlies who may not be familiar with the figures.

Part of a useful series, Ten Bush Babies: Let’s Add is perfect for Aussie children who have just started preschool or kindergarten. It is a gentle introduction to early mathematics that will get kids excited to discover more.