Ten Little Fish

Title: Ten Little Fish
Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Bruce Wood
Publisher and date of publication: The Blue Sky Press 2004
Genre: Counting Picture Book
Age: K-1

This wonderful counting book is a story about ten little fish that explore their colorful ocean and swim through a sea filled with surprise and adventure. Along the way you lose fish counting down to one little lonely fish who doesn't know what to do. The lonely little fish soon finds a mate. They then become mother and father to ten little fish.

Ten Little Fish is a great counting book. What I really enjoyed about this one compared to others is that the book counts backwards from ten to one instead of the normal starting at one and counting up. I think it is a great idea because counting down can sometimes be a little more difficult for students especially those who are just learning how to count. Kids can see that it works both ways. The book is full of rhymes and fun adventures. The fish encounter different things that appear in the ocean. The pictures are full of bright colors that really bring the sea to life and will have children captivated from start to finish. I was really excited when I found this book because it is from the author I am doing my author study on however instead of it being illustrated by her husband Don it is illustrated by her son Bruce Wood which makes it really special, to me at least.

In the classroom I would use this book to explore the world of counting. Not only from 1 to 10 but like the book does which is counting backswords. This would be a great introduction to the idea and understanding of how to count backwards. Even though it is a counting book I do think that it could be read when studying fish or the ocean. The book is full of things that fish do really encounter and do when swimming through the sea. So, I would not limit myself only to the counting part of the book but open up my children to see its connection to the sea and have them learn from that aspect of the book as well.