56. Ten Scared Fish By Ros Moriarty illustrated by Balarinji

Ten Scared Fish by Ros Moriarty illustrated by Balarinji
Published March 2012 Allen & Unwin

From the publisher:Simple, intelligent, bright and cheerful, this early childhood concept book introduces animals and numbers and celebrates indigenous art in a joyous, non-didactic and playful way.

This is a very simple, but very clever first counting book.  We start at the waterhole, with one turtle, then there are two turtles by the waterhole, three turtles by the waterhole and a snake. Then there are four snakes in the river grass, and so on, following the river into the sea.  In the sea we have ten scared fish who meet one big mouth!

The illustrations are clear and bold, and for a simply counting book, there is a linear story line, as we head from the waterhole to the sea.  I also really like the way the new animal was introduced on the page before we get to that number.

At the back of the book , there is a translation of the story in the Yanyuwa language, which is spoken by Aboriginal families in Borroloola, Northern Territory.  It's also worth noting that a proportion of the income from sales of this book supports Indigenous pre-school literacy through Indi Kindi. Click on the link below for more information.

Who will like this book: All pre-schoolers
Read it if you like: An Australian 1, 2, 3 of Animals by Bronwyn Bancroft