Words by Richard Garrett Dews
Illustrated by Toby Mike
Published by CreateSpace
What's more fun than toucan birds, guavas, and singing? Timmy Toucan Dropped 10 Guavas, a new pre-K and Kindergarten children's book from Richard Garrett Dews, helps young readers learn to count up to (and down from) 10. Kids pick up the catchy tune almost instantly, and the book's many happy lessons seem to happen without effort! Timmy Toucan, our jungle friend, and his pal Mike Monkey are frantically searching for 10 guavas that Timmy dropped. In addition to counting down Timmy's remaining guavas, readers count up the number of guavas found. Timmy and Mike, and the reader, search each illustration for one missing guava at a time. Ordinals are taught (1st, 2nd, etc), and so are directions (left, right, under, etc). Each illustration is a fun search for a missing guava! The sing-along song was created as a perfect compliment to the book, and sheet music is included on the book's last page. An MP3 instrumental version is available, from online music retailers, to lead and support young singers. It makes great background music (or a lullaby) when looped! Look for other books in this pre-K and Kindergarten series, from Richard Garrett Dews.
A line or two:
“Timmy Toucan dropped 10 guavas!
He drops so many things.
He has no hands to hold them.
A bird has only wings.”
Timmy Toucan is a great character for pre-schoolers! My daughter took to him immediately and even recognized Mike Monkey right away too. Now every time she sees a toucan she thinks it’s name is Timmy Toucan.
The book follows both Timmy and Mike as they try to find all the guavas they dropped in the forest. It’s a scavenger hunt, and a great way to get kids involved in the story. We had so much fun trying to find the hidden guavas in the picture. And talking about guavas – we learned about those too! I wasn’t sure what a guava was or how to explain it to a three year old so our curiousity took us to YouTube to learn all about them. While we were there we also looked for videos of toucans. It was just a great time, and I’m so glad we had this book to inspire us.
I loved the counting aspect. These books not only teach counting but also subtraction. For example, when we find one guava, then have nine still missing. This is even illustrated in a pyramid of guavas with the number highlighted for each one they find.
I can’t find any fault with this book and my daughter has already worn out her copy so much. It inspired a lot, and she learned a lot. Very highly recommend this series for young ones.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
You can purchase Timmy Toucan Dropped 10 Guavas in paperback from Amazon.com. There is also a colouring book version available.
You can also add it to your Goodreads list.