Over by the Harbour: Counting in Outport Newfoundland and Labrador

If reading the above excerpt out loud evoked some rhythm memories, that’s because LaFitte has employed the rhyme of “Over in the Meadow” which, according to a Wikipedia entry, is a popular counting rhyme written by Olive A. Wadsworth (pen name of Katherine Floyd Dana) in 1870.

Accompanied by Cilia’s detailed watercolour double-page spreads, LaFitte’s rhythmic poetry introduces young listeners/readers to the mother-prompted behaviours of one moose calf, two foals, three polar bear cubs, four puffin chicks, five pups, six little beavers, seven goslings, eight little fishies, nine harp seal pups and ten fox pups. Though the book’s poetry and illustrations have the appropriate regional feel to them, the book offers those from away with a mix of the familiar, such as the ubiquitous Canada goose, and the new, like puffins. Cilia reinforces the regional focus by illustrating the puppies as being the offspring of a massive black Newfoundland.

While the publisher has recommended Over by the Harbour for a preschool-grade two audience, note that it is not a “starter” counting book. The poetic text only presents the numbers as words and not as both numbers and words. Those just learning how to count need to be able to clearly identify in the illustrations what it is that they are expected to count. Because the counting focus is on the young of an animal, in most of Cilia’s art, the difference in size between the adult creature and its offspring is the needed visual clue. However, seven little goslings could challenge younger users of the book as Cilia illustrates them in flight in their adult plumage and not as earth-bound yellow down-covered goslings. As a result, some youngsters may end up counting eight “goslings”. While the illustrations for four little puffins, nine harp seals and ten fox pups are delightful and visually engaging, they are also busy, a situation which again might
complicate the counting process for the younger “counter”.

Over by the Harbour is also a good vocabulary builder as LaFitte generally incorporates the correct term for an animal’s young. After a reading or two, the book’s audience may recognize the repeating features of its melodic structure and join in the reading, if only to recite the line providing the young animals’ response to their mothers’ action request.

With the aforementioned caveats in mind, Over by the Harbour is still...