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Counting in the Garden

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"Counting in the Garden" celebrates the joy of growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables in one's very own garden. This chunky board book is a visual feast from one to twelve. Young children will love finding and counting all of the garden treats. Every other page introduces a new plant into the mix until ultimately all twelve plants are featured together in the final, abundantly overgrown garden. "Counting in the Garden" is sure to appeal to eco-conscious parents and their "green" little kids.

58 pages, Board Book

First published June 1, 2011

31 people want to read

About the author

Emily Hruby

3 books

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5 stars
23 (19%)
4 stars
40 (33%)
3 stars
46 (38%)
2 stars
10 (8%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Lorellie.
1,036 reviews24 followers
April 8, 2024
It serves the purpose of a counting book very well. The art is okay.
Profile Image for Kandice.
377 reviews
April 14, 2014
A cute board book about a garden compromised of 1-12 plants of different varietals. A great resource for learning fruits and veggies and practicing counting.
Profile Image for Gloria.
81 reviews
January 27, 2019
The 13-ISBN for the book I read is 978-162326063-7. I decided not to add another edition.

This counting board book is visually appealing for babies, young kids, and adults, because of its rich colors, simple yet clear images, and step-by-step way of introducing new foods, plants, and animals, all while adding to the garden.

The foods, plants, and animals used for this counting book were all appropriate for what you see in a garden and would help teach children about more than just the foods that are grown in one.

However, my issue is that the beginning and end pages of the story focus on growing things to eat, so butterflies and snails don't fit-- unless you mean for escargot, which is not likely.
Profile Image for Lagobond.
487 reviews
March 9, 2020
What an utterly adorable and cheerful book. The bright, stylized, folk-art style illustrations evoke shapes cut from construction paper. We get to inspect all the plants and critters in the garden, side-by-side with the happiest boy in the history of gardening. There's an onion, and two tasty turnips, and 3 tiny thistles that grew by accident. What's not to love? The text flows effortlessly and happily, without forcing words into rhymes. Alliterations abound as the garden gradually fills up with a variety of plants and animals. And it all ends with a delicious harvest! Truly a treat of a book. I also love that we get to count to 12 instead of stopping at 10, as most early-childhood counting books do.
Profile Image for Megan.
945 reviews
September 22, 2023
Cute cartoony illustrations of various things that might grow in a garden (sunflowers, tomatoes, thistles, tulips etc.).

Also, minor point, but where I live tulips and sunflowers (etc.) don't bloom at the same time. So - take warning if you live in a climate with winters and care about that kind of thing.
Profile Image for Sivyu.
137 reviews
February 26, 2015
Patrick Hruby. Counting in the Garden. (2013). A counting book that goes from 1-12 about a young farmer that enjoys growing things in his garden and counting them. The items range from fruits, vegetables, and animals. After the item has been counted, it's added to the garden. Over the course of the book the garden fills up. It's a cute book with simple flat computer generated graphic illustrations. The numbers are very large and easy to read. This would work with many different units such as counting, gardening, spring, fruits/vegetables, and farms. Target audience: 2-8.
Profile Image for Jessica Harrison.
827 reviews54 followers
October 28, 2011
Read more at Cracking the Cover
“Counting in the Garden” celebrates the outdoors while introducing numbers at the same time. Curious little readers will have fun recognizing flowers, fruits and vegetables. A new garden treat is introduced on every other page, while the following pages bring together all the previous produce until all twelve come together in the final spread. Almost set up as finding game, the book encourages counting while showing off the bounty that surrounds us.
32 reviews2 followers
May 24, 2016
This book has creepy illustrations of the boy, and I have trouble not reading it in the voice of the Count from Sesame Street.

However, it counts to 12, has a neat if inaccurate illustration which aggregates all the plants in his garden as he goes. Has a boy gardening, which seems rare in kids books. And Connor adores it.
Profile Image for Libby.
134 reviews7 followers
February 9, 2013
What I like best about this counting book is that between each new item to count, the book returns to an overview of the garden including all the items that have thus far been counted. This makes it a superior learning tool to most counting books I have tried.
Profile Image for Amanda.
3,890 reviews42 followers
April 15, 2014
I couldn't decide if I really liked the bold graphic design of the pictures or if the boy in the pictures slightly creeped me out? I did like that it counted all the way to 12; most books stop counting at 10. Counting the snails was a bit confusing, imho. Liked most of the pages quite a bit.
Profile Image for Amelia.
136 reviews6 followers
April 20, 2017
Didn't hold my daughter's interest. Illustrations w shades of Charley Harper but she much prefers our actual Charley Harper board books. Rhythm limps - would love a suggestion of a different gardening book!
99 reviews
February 25, 2016
We're all about counting and gardens, but this book just didn't do it for us. The illustrations are garish and might have been produced by a prodigy in an early version of Microsoft Paint. (It's probably just a personal preference thing.)
Profile Image for ReadingWench.
2,105 reviews13 followers
July 24, 2011
Fantastic board book. Not only is this a counting book, it is visually stimulating. You could ask your child the colors along with counting.
Profile Image for Cassie.
591 reviews20 followers
July 2, 2013
I really like this counting book. What makes it different? It counts things in the garden, then goes back to an overview of the garden every other page.
Profile Image for Jane.
166 reviews1 follower
December 27, 2014
charming charley harper-style illustrations. great read for toddlers, especially for gardeners or farmers.
Profile Image for Kelly.
1,060 reviews35 followers
August 1, 2016
Really enoyed the colorful, bold illustrations and the wordless page that showed where the next garden item fit in. It felt a little crowded by the end though with a lot going on.
Profile Image for Robin.
2,278 reviews2 followers
January 11, 2016
Not as pretty as the other Counting In The Garden, but a solid counting book with a neat illustration style. Recommended for ages 3-5.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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