Baaaa? Let's Count Goats! by Mem Fox

HERE WE SEE A FIREMAN GOAT CLIMBING THROUGH THE SMOKE.

BUT CAN WE COUNT THE RESCUED GOATS TRYING NOT TO CHOKE?

It's not your father's counting book, this one--. It's Aussie author Mem Fox's latest quirky entry for the picture book set, Let's Count Goats! (Beach Lane Books, 2010). Illustrator Jan Thomas gives us goats with gobs of personality that would make even Dr. Seuss smile. These goats do their share of munching strange stuff (one goat at table is actually eating the table), but the firemen goats also put out the fire from a super-annuated birthday cake, and the soccer goats roar at the referee for a ba-a-a-d call. Not only do we get to count the goats, but also parts of goats....

CAN YOU COUNT THE PRICKED-UP EARS?

YOU CAN? I'M NOT SURPRISED!

Fox's clever rhyming text gives no counting cues, but the number of goats and goat parts increases numerically with each page. It's an amusing outing altogether for young numerologists, as we have come to expect from Mem Fox's award-winning titles, and Jan Thomas (see her hilarious top-selling Rhyming Dust Bunnies here, offers young readers plenty to look at in her inventive drawings. As School Library Journal's reviewer puts it, "As they romp across the bright, colorful pages, [the goats'] antics will make children giggle; more importantly, the text encourages listeners to look carefully at what is happening."