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My Very First Book
My Very First Book of Numbers
Can you tell how many cherries there are? How many apples? In the brilliantly colorful My Very First Book of Numbers, children can find the number of fruits in the bottom half of a page that matches the number of boxes and numerals in the top half. This new, bilingual edition will also allow them to match English and Spanish words for each. Children will love solving the ...more
12 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
5 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Eric Carle
678 books2,404 followersEric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies. Carle's career as an illustrator and children's book author accelerated after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award), a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award), a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 6, 2024
This book help Children to practice numbers. Great education book for Children
December 17, 2017
My Very First Book of Numbers is part of a series of split-page matching concept board books by Eric Carle. I highly recommend saving money and buying them as a set. The counting book is probably the least popular book of the four that comes in the set of four (the others are colors, words, and shapes). My son Luke is obsessed with the shapes book, but he doesn't love this one. And there's a reason: this book is much harder.
While the upper half of the split pages progress in order from one to ten, the bottom pages are scrambled. The idea of the book is that a child must find the matching page. For the number one, the top half shows one black square and the numeral "1." You must flip through the book to find one of something. Soon (it's the second page, actually), you come across a picture of one pineapple. The left-facing half-page says one pineapple with the sight word bolded (and in the bilingual edition copy I borrowed from the library it also says, una piña).
I was amused by the number of parent reviewers with (I assume) neurotypical children on Goodreads who were put off by all the flipping of pages and the fact that the progression of illustrated food items is out of order. For me, this is what makes the book so powerful. Kids with autism do very well with order and it is precisely the lack of order and the need to sort through it all that is so tricky.
What fewer reviewers picked up on that I struggle with is that the skill that is being developed with this book is also about subitizing. Subitizing is the ability to quickly and accurately ascertain the number of items in a set. Think about rolling a dice and calling out the number, or seeing three apples on the counter—you don't need to actually count them to know there are three. The skill of subitizing relies on visual spatial working memory, and it seems that this can be a deficit area of cognition for individuals with ASD.
Basically, it's no wonder that Luke isn't thrilled with this book even though he loves the format and the others in its series. It's really hard for him. I recommend buying the whole set of 4 partly because this one is so hard. If it were not for his fondness for the others in the series, I'm not sure he'd try. The love for the format is critical.
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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post of 15 great counting books: http://www.lineupthebooks.com/countin...
While the upper half of the split pages progress in order from one to ten, the bottom pages are scrambled. The idea of the book is that a child must find the matching page. For the number one, the top half shows one black square and the numeral "1." You must flip through the book to find one of something. Soon (it's the second page, actually), you come across a picture of one pineapple. The left-facing half-page says one pineapple with the sight word bolded (and in the bilingual edition copy I borrowed from the library it also says, una piña).
I was amused by the number of parent reviewers with (I assume) neurotypical children on Goodreads who were put off by all the flipping of pages and the fact that the progression of illustrated food items is out of order. For me, this is what makes the book so powerful. Kids with autism do very well with order and it is precisely the lack of order and the need to sort through it all that is so tricky.
What fewer reviewers picked up on that I struggle with is that the skill that is being developed with this book is also about subitizing. Subitizing is the ability to quickly and accurately ascertain the number of items in a set. Think about rolling a dice and calling out the number, or seeing three apples on the counter—you don't need to actually count them to know there are three. The skill of subitizing relies on visual spatial working memory, and it seems that this can be a deficit area of cognition for individuals with ASD.
Basically, it's no wonder that Luke isn't thrilled with this book even though he loves the format and the others in its series. It's really hard for him. I recommend buying the whole set of 4 partly because this one is so hard. If it were not for his fondness for the others in the series, I'm not sure he'd try. The love for the format is critical.
---
I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post of 15 great counting books: http://www.lineupthebooks.com/countin...
May 16, 2018
This board book, designed for young readers, allows children to match number squares with the same quantity of fruit. With the pages divided in the center, readers can choose any number on the top half of the page and then find the corresponding picture of fruit on the bottom half of the page. Children will have fun matching numbers with the various colorfully illustrated fruits.
August 25, 2020
Unlike most counting books, this one seems constructed to actually help kids learn how to count! What a novel concept! I, for one, appreciate that. It's Eric Carle too, so the art is classic.
Of course, it's also not much in the way of a narrative, and it's probably more for toddlers to interact with than something you actually read to a kiddo. Consider accordingly.
Of course, it's also not much in the way of a narrative, and it's probably more for toddlers to interact with than something you actually read to a kiddo. Consider accordingly.
November 6, 2018
This book would be good for 4-6 year olds who have already learned to count and now need practice matching items to the numerals. It is not a book for babies who are still learning how to count in order.
March 4, 2025
I wouldn’t place this as “very first” but it is a great interactive tool to help toddlers learn quantity and numbers. The pages are split in half so kids can flip to a page with fruits and then page through numbers 1-10 until they find the matching amount.
May 17, 2017
All i have to say about this book is that its a very good book for 1 year olds. "My Very First Book Of Numbers" is very good because it helps lots of kids with there numbers. I like the book alot.
January 12, 2019
The mix'n'match feature of this book sets it apart.
December 28, 2019
We've made several ways to read it, since at 2.5 he hasn't the patience to go back and forth looking for the match.
January 4, 2020
A great way to practice number sense with littles.
August 15, 2020
Come on Eric. Counting fruits? Very derivative of a certain hungry insect.
January 12, 2021
I really like that it's an interactive book, that we get to search for the right answer for each number. And of course I love Carle's art.
August 23, 2021
Very cute book
September 30, 2021
2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother
Teaching aid for putting numbers in order
Gift from Harper's grandmother
Teaching aid for putting numbers in order
April 14, 2022
I love Eric Carle's artwork throughout his books. He paints a page and then cuts out the pieces to make the shapes.
November 4, 2023
Multiple representations make this a must for Pre-K and kindergarten age kids. The clever way children can match quantities is an added bonus.
March 10, 2024
Jack received this book secondhand from family.
He is a bit young for the matching element, but he liked looking at the colorful fruits and said Apple.
He is a bit young for the matching element, but he liked looking at the colorful fruits and said Apple.
October 15, 2024
A fun way to explore numbers with a kiddo. A lot of re-read ability
July 8, 2011
Carle, Eric. (1974). My Very First Book of Numbers. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
Annotation: For babies to preschoolers. Eric Carle uses blocks and colorful fruit to teach young children how to correspond numbers with objects. The unique design of the book is very fun for children and turns reading into a fun game for the reader. The book begins by telling the reader to pick a number on the top half of the book, and to find the same number of fruit on the bottom half of the book. The fruit is illustrated using Carle’s trademark bold, bright colors and interesting paint strokes. By the end of the book, the reader has improved their one-to-one correspondence skills and developed confidence in their counting.
Personal Reflection: I really like this book because it engages the reader. Toddlers and preschoolers love to do things on their own, and they can flip and match the numbers themselves. The bright colors along with the unique pages really make this book interactive for young children and teachers/childcare providers like to use this book for teaching numbers.
Annotation: For babies to preschoolers. Eric Carle uses blocks and colorful fruit to teach young children how to correspond numbers with objects. The unique design of the book is very fun for children and turns reading into a fun game for the reader. The book begins by telling the reader to pick a number on the top half of the book, and to find the same number of fruit on the bottom half of the book. The fruit is illustrated using Carle’s trademark bold, bright colors and interesting paint strokes. By the end of the book, the reader has improved their one-to-one correspondence skills and developed confidence in their counting.
Personal Reflection: I really like this book because it engages the reader. Toddlers and preschoolers love to do things on their own, and they can flip and match the numbers themselves. The bright colors along with the unique pages really make this book interactive for young children and teachers/childcare providers like to use this book for teaching numbers.
June 16, 2011
This book would make a great center activity in a lower elementary classroom. The book does a great job of representing numbers in multiple ways (with the word, with the number, with fruit, and with squares). The other thing I love about this book is that the childre have to match the top half of the book which is a block and numerical representation with the bottom half of the book. So they get to turn the top and bottom pages seperately. What a great way to practice matching! I would extend the activity by having them complete some task (fill in the number and draw a picture of how many they found of each object with rods and units).
September 12, 2012
The book My very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle is a great counting book for small children. This book has made it fun to learn numbers for the kids by the way the book was designed. In the book the pages are split in half. For the top pages there is a number on each page numbered 1-10 and on the bottom there are objects so you can count to find out how many there are. This book was made for small children to memorize number by site and then to learn to count using the objects on the pages. I would recomend this book to any parent that was trying to teach there child to count becaue it a cute and fun way to learn numbers.
September 9, 2008
This was a gift from a librarian friend to my daughter. The first time we read it she wasn't into it at all (so naturally, despite her only being weeks old I decided it was because she already hates books and reading. ha ha) But today I picked it up again and she sat through the whole thing... we flipped through the pages searching for each of the correct numbers of fruit and then we did it a second time in French. Her little eyes were riveted to the book the whole time. Yay, my baby loves books.
March 30, 2019
Everything Eric Carle does is gorgeous, and this is no exception. This books, however, has a sort of awkward layout. It asks readers to flip to the page with the corresponding numbers of fruits and it’s just not intuitive — lots of flipping pages back and forth without much payoff. Simple pages of fruits and number blocks would be equally effective (I think). Still, it’s attractive and a better option than many.
May 17, 2013
Honestly this book needs instructions I don't think it is good for teaching kids their numbers but rather as a testing tool to see IF they know their numbers. I was disappointed and I didn't enjoy the book, It was not what I expected.
June 22, 2016
The most attractive function of this book to my kids was the flip-page structure. This is not a "sit down and listen" story time book, it is really more of a hands on activity time book, and when used that way can be really quite fun.
October 2, 2017
Read: board book (owned)
A good book to help with learning numbers. It's designed so that you match the fruit on the bottom page to a number on the top page. It displays numbers in a variety of ways... the word, the number, fruit, and squares.
A good book to help with learning numbers. It's designed so that you match the fruit on the bottom page to a number on the top page. It displays numbers in a variety of ways... the word, the number, fruit, and squares.
February 8, 2008
I'm going to love this one. My daughter has a bit more development to do before she does (she's 11 months now and just beginning to enjoy matching games).
September 26, 2008
An amazing book for kids on Numbers. Eric Carle is such an amazing Author. I can list all is collection of books that I have but it would be too much.
October 7, 2008
This is one of the better interactive learning books for little ones.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews