Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland

Random House, 2014. ISBN 9780552572514
(Pre-school - F) What do you do if you have ten terrible dinosaurs standing in a line? Well you count them down until there is just one and then . . . you bring the others back again. This is another of the traditional rhyming counting-backwards book that have appealed to young children for generations but it is so beautifully illustrated that it will become a firm favourite. Firstly, using dinosaurs is a masterstroke because 40+ years of experience has shown me that this is a perennially favourite topic of the very young. Secondly the colour and detail of each dinosaur will appeal and make it really easy to help young children with their visual discrimination. Who's missing this time? And thirdly, it help with prediction skills as the reader thinks about who will go next and who might be the last dinosaur standing - or sleeping in this case.
The rhythm and rhyme of the text not only help children appreciate the nuances of the language they hear each day but also help them join in as they predict the next number based on the rhyming pattern. Is there much that is better than hearing young children shout out with the delight as they join in knowing they are right? Such a feeling of empowerment over those squiggles on the page as they realise they can make them make sense.
Miss 3-and-almost-time-for-preschool loved this book as did Miss 8 who loves to play school and was very busy showing Miss 3 how to write the number sentence for each page. Not sure that Miss 3 got that part but she certainly got a lot of enjoyment out of reading this with her sister and to herself.
Timeless.
Barbara Braxton