Tracks Count: A Guide to Counting Animal Prints

While it’s sold as a counting book—which it is—Track Counts is so much more. Each number, beginning with zero, includes a few educational words about each animal, 1-4 short sentences early readers can practice reading on their own, and a richly rendered illustration of the animals belonging to the foot prints. My favorite is the five baby raccoons peering out from a tree hollow—irresistible. It would be easy for a young reader to want to read/hear the story several times to spend time with the young animals.

While the book includes animals one would expect, like bears and wolves, it also introduces readers to lesser known animals like the tapir and coatimundi. The book includes an introduction, for the adults; a two-page spread showing the numbers 1-10 with their foot prints—for the kids; and a short description of each of the animals featured. The book can easily be used as a reference book. A perfect book for early counters, children will have fun counting all the toes, claws and hooves of the animals—there’s a lot of counting going on in this book!