Numbers. Claire Llewellyn. Illustrated by Sue Cony. London,Eng.: Marshall Editions (Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 21 pp., cloth (includes reusable stickers), $7.95. ISBN 1-55192-101-4. Subject Headings: Counting-Juvenile literature. Toy and movable books. Preschool - grade 1 / Ages 3 - 6. Review by Joan Payzant. *** /4		Shapes. Claire Llewellyn. Illustrated by Sue Cony. London,Eng.: Marshall Editions (Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 21 pp., cloth (includes reusable stickers), $7.95. ISBN 1-55192-103-0. Subject Headings: Geometry-Juvenile literature. Toy and movable books. Preschool - grade 1 / Ages 3 - 6. Review by Joan Payzant. *** /4

These two sticker books, Numbers and Shapes are colourful and well made. The purpose of Numbers is to help children count from 1 to 20. There are five double pages of scenes which will appeal to small children: a garden, a dressing r oom, an animal race, a toy shop and a beach. The scenes have blank, outlined spaces, with a number alongside. Children search on the sticker page which corresponds to the scene page for an object with the matching number, eg. 1 dog, 3 gloves, 2 rabbits, 1 3 cars, 20 coloured pencils. Then they remove the sticker (sometimes tricky for uncoordinated little hands) and place it on the outlined space in the scene.

      Shapes also includes scenes that will be familiar to young children: a picnic, a camp site, a kitchen, a playroom and a town. On each page are outlines of basic shapes, most of which include a picture of a child as well, eg. holding a square, stand ing on a circle, pulling the tail of a kite. Other shapes are rectangles, stars, ovals and hearts.

      Bright colours and humorous action figures add fun to these activities. At the end of each book are four puzzle pages with a minimum of reading. Good entertainment for a child with some direction from a slightly older sibling or an adult.

      The stickers are reusable, but someone will have the task at the end of the activity of removing them from the scenes and replacing them on the correct storage page, a rather tedious job for a teacher unless pupils can be persuaded to do it. Parents and g randparents would enjoy sharing the books with their little ones.

Recommended.

Joan Payzant is a former teacher and teacher-librarian in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - OCTOBER 2, 1998.

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