Abigail the giraffe loved to count, and opportunities were everywhere. Unfortunately, her efforts to count Ladybug's spots, the leaves on a tree, Zebra's stripes, and Cheetah's spots, were all futile, given the perpetual motion of everyone and everything around her. When our giraffine heroine gets discouraged however, her kindhearted friends help her to count flowers, and eventually...the stars!

I won't lie. I was drawn to this book because of the title - Abigail has such a charming sound to it, doesn't it? - and because of the delightful-looking giraffe on the cover. When I saw it was written and illustrated by Catherine Rayner, whose Sylvia and Bird was such a lovely book, I snatched it up. It is a counting book, but also a story about friendship, patience, and perseverance. The artwork is absolutely adorable, and Rayner really captures the charm of her animal characters. Recommended to young giraffe lovers, and to any young child struggling with their numbers, and learning to count. ( )

Until I have a grandchild I can't justify buying this, but maybe I'll request it ILL, as it looks so special.

This book was absolutely awesome. I loved this book for many reasons, but here are two. One reason why I loved this book so much is that throughout the entire story, there was counting to 10 involved. The word choice corresponding with the counting went so well together and I think that was the reason I was so engaged in the book. There weren’t too many words or numbers on each page, but there were just enough. For example, a giraffe, Abigail, was trying to count many things throughout the story. She tried to count a ladybug, a zebra, a cheetah, and some leaves. But she realized that she lost count so easily. “I know just the thing,” whispered Ladybug. “Follow me.” “FLOWERS!” giggled Zebra. “Come on – we’ll help you count!” So the cheetah, zebra, and ladybug helped her count flowers and then it turned to night. Each of them looked up in the sky and decided they could count the stars in the night sky!
Another really important factor I noticed while reading the book was its engaging pictures. The author/illustrator really focused on simple colors and drawings while making them very meaningful. Each page had smooth pictures and colors and the depiction of the characters moods and feelings were very evident.
The main idea of this story is that Abigail wants to count something so badly. She tries and tries and finally her friends realize that she just wants to be able to count. Once they start counting the flowers, she realizes her friends don’t know how to count and she spends the whole day teaching them. ( )

Counting, animals ( )