Counting Fruit

 My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 1974) could just as easily be called “An Introduction to Fruit” and is a great book for children.

The sturdy, coated pages are cut horizontally in half. The upper pages have anywhere from 1 to 10 black squares and the lower pages are illustrated with Carle’s playful drawings of fruit — 1 pineapple, 2 bananas, 7 strawberries, 10 grapes, etc. For older children, the idea is to match the number of squares with the same number of fruits. Younger children, not old enough to get the hang of it, will be captivated by the colorful pictures, which could be the reason you bought the book in the first place. My children licked the pages before we moved on to counting. The book is a fun way to introduce children to counting and eating fruit, two of life’s important skills.