Evaluation

The illustrations in this book were perfect. I loved the vibrant colors of the oil paint as well as the rougher, straw-like texture in the background of each of the pages. Interestingly, I have this poem memorized and my parents always sang it to me as kids, but I never really thought about the words until I read this book and saw the poem in action. This author took a very literal approach to the poem which is excellent for our concrete learners. The four chicks in the book are actually “shutting the door,” “picking up sticks,” and then “laying them straight. Due to the fact that there were two numbers on a page, the reader is forced to really search for what objects represent the two numbers. For example, when the numbers “7, 8” arrive, I immediately saw the eight white eggs lying on the foreground, but it took me a minute or so to find the seven bees that were buzzing around the hen’s head. I also loved how the author gives the reader the opportunity to count all over again at the end of the story when we start counting all of the hen’s friends. 

I think it would be a lot of fun to create an activity where the students acted out what was happening in this book. In addition you may have the students in the book circle hold up Popsicle sticks with various pictures representing the 9 butterflies and the 9 eggs. When the teacher reads through the story, the students would hold their pictures up in the appropriate places. Not only would this keep the students actively engaged, but it also gives them the opportunity to count how many objects are on their picture using one to one correspondence.