The Counting Sheep

The Counting Sheep by Natashia Curtin (Wombat Books) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN: 9781761113154

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Four woolly friends form a band and travel to the city to perform. But every night, the audience falls asleep. After some baaad reviews, they seek help from their animal pals, who suggest trying a variety of different musical styles. However, nothing works, so they decide to give up. Then a tired bilby arrives and begs the band to play so he can sleep at night. Other nocturnal creatures join the imploring chorus. The Counting Sheep become ‘the most successful band in all the land’.

Natashia Curtin’s clever tale about chasing your dreams knits together a fleecy quartet, a flock of funny puns, and an ending as gentle as a lamb and just as charming. Children aged four to eight will adore the humorous and heartfelt story, and there are plenty of jokes for older kids, too – including inventive references to famous groups, songs and nursery rhymes.

Natashia’s illustrations are populated by a mob of magnificent animals, each with a distinctive personality. The canny connections between words and images add an extra blanket of hilarity to the book, such as when Wallace advises the band to play pop music, and we see that he’s a weasel. There is even a pay-off for eagle-eyed readers: The Counting Sheep are called ‘the fab four’, and the endpapers feature a re-creation of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover.

The Counting Sheep is bursting at the bale seams with great gags, scintillating storytelling and a motivating message for all ages. It is bound to become a firm favourite with the whole family.