Count the Birdies by Matthew Porter

by Matthew Porter

Matthew Porter’s Count the Birdies is a beautifully designed and crafted board book that not only helps children learn to count, but to recognize colors as well. Based on Japanese woodcuts, Porter’s lovely illustrations picture house sparrows perched on white pear blossoms, tiny hummingbirds flitting among pink cherry blossoms, and other common birds and flowers. Refreshingly modern, yet imbued with vintage charm, the vibrant, elegant illustrations capture the attention of both young readers and their parents.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Matthew Porter is a children's book illustrator and writer. His stories and imagery present the perfect balance of nostalgia with modern elegance. His work has become ubiquitous throughout the Pacific Northwest and he has been called the undisputed king of the hipster board book genre.

His books are populated by wide eyed animals and his cheeky monkeys. Matthew's pieces are acrylic paint on wood. The artwork is sanded to highlight the woods natural grain and is rounded out by his use of strong bold lines.

Reviews

[D'Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good counting book for young kids, especially young kids who like birds. Seeing as adults are usually the ones interacting with kids when they're first starting to read (though this book doesn't include more than the numbers and their corresponding names up to 10), this book has really cool illustrations that do a fine job straddling the line between what a kid and a grownup with taste would like to look at. My only concern is that there might not be enough contrast from illustration to illustration to keep kids' attention. We shall see, though. Matthew Porter is pretty awesome. Check out his Web site: http://www.matthewporterart.com.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is extremely simple, just the number "1 one" on the first page and "2 two" on the second, etc. The thing I like about the book is that as the number of birds on each page get larger, there are branches dividing the birds up into smaller, easily counted groups. For my children, at the toddler age, the biggest problem with counting objects was remembering which have already been counted and which not. So sometimes objects are counted twice, or completely missed. With the birds nicely divided, my 2-year-old had no problems.