Count Down to Clean Up

by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Welcome to the town of Short Creek, where you will meet ten busy rabbits.
Nancy Elizabeth Wallace has created a vibrant and irresistible counting book that engages young children as they count down from 10 to 0, find the clues to learn which bunny goes into which shop, and match each rabbit with what he or she brought to the community clean-up day. Come along and keep your eyes open. There’s a lot to discover!

Genres: Counting, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2001

About the author

Nancy Elizabeth Wallace attended the University of Connecticut, and majored in sociology and psychology with a minor in art history, then continued on for a master’s degree in child development.

For many years, she worked at Yale-New Haven Hospital with children and teenagers as Child Life Specialist helping children to understand what was going to happen if they needed to have a medical test or an operation or a cast.

Then she took two adult education courses, one was about traditional Scherenschnitt (share- en -sssh -nit) scherren means scissors, schnitt means cut. The other was about writing and illustrating children’s books. When she brought in a
cut-paper illustration, the teacher said, “You’ve found your medium!”

Nancy is married to Peter Banks. They have been married for more than 30 years. He is a high school Physics teacher.

They live in Branford, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually don't have a very bad review for a book for children, but this one was dull and boring. The pictures were kind of cute, but I didn't really get it. We just count down from ten to one and then clean up? It was definitely missing something for me. Kendall and Bryan both gave it a thumbs down.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has about two pages with more than one word on it. It is more of a slightly older kid's book. I would say about 3-4, where they could count objects on the pages, but otherwise they won't be too interested in it, aside from the pictures. There is a little seek and find at the back of the book too, but again, for the kids who can sit down are do the seek and find.

[K Morlando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful pictures, barely any words; But a good reverse counting book.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The bunnies head to clean-up the park, ten in all, as a reader counts down their progress. The illustrations resemble paper diecuts or perhaps a flannel board display. At first glance it appears to be just another in a long line of counting books, but the end of the books features an inventory to items that a reader could try to locate on each page. In addition, at the front of the book the bunnies are named, which could delight a younger reader as they attempt to locate their favorite bunny as it makes its way to the park. Not necessarily an outstanding counting book but an interesting one which could appeal to the toddler set.

CIP Summary:
Little rabbits from one to ten get ready and then clean up.

Horn Book Magazine:
Ten bunnies become nine and then eight and so on as each stops to do an errand on the way to cleanup day at the park. Clues in the cut-paper illustrations match each rabbit with an errand and a task at the park, but this isn't evident until the end of the book. The art is simple and will appeal to preschoolers, but the basic content of this book is thin.

Booklist:
Ages 4-7. Wallace presents her charming cast of bunny characters on the title page: 10 bunnies associated with particular characteristics and colors. Then all the bunnies gather in a neglected park and spruce it up nicely with new flowers, a banner, and painted benches. Wallace's simply shaped illustrations are done in brightly colored paper collage, and it is fun to see brooms, mailboxes, library books, trash bags, and other minutiae of daily life emerge in her inventive paper shapes. Primary-grade teachers will want this on hand for ecology units.

[Logan Draper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Count Down to Clean Up is a very brightly colored counting book. It follows ten bunnies as they clean up the town of Short Creek. While the book is very brightly colored and contains interesting paper cut out illustrations, I do not think that this would be the best book to teach counting with. Most pages only text is a number, and consequently the pages can be hard to follow. The reader is expected to count down from ten, very quickly while reading the book, and I did not think that the composition of the book would be appropriate for children who are just starting to read and learn how to count. Some young children about age five) may enjoy reading this book on their own, but I do not think that this would be a very good book to read out loud to a group of kids. The pictures may interest them, but the lack of words, and instruction with counting may cause the students to become bored and disinterested.

[Priscilla King · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a counting book. It is made for younger kids but I wouldn't necessarily use this one for teaching numbers to beginners. It goes from 10 to 1 and has a theme of rabbits cleaning up. The number of rabbits correlates with the number on the page, but the numbers are not the focus point and not very big or noticeable. I would still use this however for example when it's time to put away the toys and get back to their desks or line up I might read this book aloud to my students.

[Jacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very simple counting book that would be suitable for young children just learning their numbers. It does not have much of a plot line, but the bunnies are all working together to help clean the community park. When they're finished working, then they can play and enjoy a beautiful park. The illustrations were very simple, but they were cute and colorful.

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not my favorite counting book, but it does serve a purpose. It is written in a very simple form and would be perfect for young, beginner readers who are learing to count forward and backward to ten. This would be great for a prekindergarten classroom.

[Zonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rabbits travel through town counting down until they reach the park clean up day. Each page features a different number that is represented in the collage illustration.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for counting down from ten.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. My 3 year old couldn't sit through it and it's a fast book.
Maybe a change in illustrations?

[Savannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple book about counting from 1-10 and back again.

[Annette Taylor-james · Rating 5 out of 5]

It helps children count from one to ten, I use this book to encourage them to clean up. Then we read about how other friends clean up where they live.