Young children’s counting books can (whisper it) be a bit dull. They’re brilliant, of course, at helping under-fives learn their numbers. But turning page after page of, say, farmyard animals gradually multiplying can get rather formulaic. How to Count to One (and Don’t Even Think About Bigger Numbers) (Nosy Crow, 17 March) aims to mix things up: here, Caspar Salmon teasingly forbids his readers to count beyond one. Matt Hunt’s primary-coloured drawings teem with multiple lifeforms – ducks, whales, worms – but you must spot the one duck that’s rollerblading, or the one worm in disguise.
It’s a neat bit of reverse psychology – little kids will itch to break the rules; they’ll revel in chatting back to the bossy narrator (who sometimes slips up: “I made a mistake! And now you have said ‘two!’” he cries). Like French author Hervé Tullet’s interactive bestsellers such as Press Here! and Say Zoop!, this debut is more than a book; it’s an invitation to have fun – a playful provocation.
