Valentines Day is coming soon, and Counting Kisses by Karen Katz is a wonderful book to read to your baby or preschooler. It teaches counting backwards from 10 down to 1. On each page, kiss your child as the story indicates. It makes for a loving bonding between you and your child. For example, on the eight page the text reads, " eight squishy kisses on chubby, yummy knees ".
I see one major disadvantage to this book. No capitalization is used on the cover title and author name. I always make a point to mention this to my children and show them how it should look.
Besides the bonding benefit, it does have a couple of very positive educational benefits:
- On each page, the number word AND the number are in large bold print. This helps draw the attention to the numbers. On repeated readings, have your child find the number or number word as you point out one.
- Above each number is a small line of hearts that match the number listed. Have your child count the hearts on each page.
