The talented Viviane Schwarz brings a feline spin to counting in this very funny concept book. At first Tiny Cat has none. Then, what s that? One! Two! Three! And . . . four! Oops, bonk, now there s more! Soon Tiny Cat has as many red balls as you can get. Then some extra. Is that too many? Will Tiny Cat ever have just enough?"
Viviane Schwarz is the author-illustrator of THERE ARE CATS IN THIS BOOK as well as SHARK AND LOBSTER'S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE. She grew up in Germany and now lives in London.
Found this on the street in London - that alone gives it an extra star - thinking about none and zero, zero is a number but none sounds cuter so I get why they went with that
A smart, amusing counting book for the toddler set who will delight in Tiny Cat's greed for more balls of yarn. Minimal number of words and a multitude of hilarious facial expressions will make this a lap-sit favorite.
This is just terrific. An example of a loose and flowing line that seems to sing off the page with a grace that looks effortless, Viv's book has quite a philosophical heart, approaching counting not as a straightforward series of steps through 1-10, but gently prompting its readers to think about number values; what it feels like to have none, or lots, or as many as you can get. Is it possible to have too many of anything and what counts as "enough". I certainly can't get enough of this wonderful book even though I learned to count very many years ago.
Very funny to read that for one reviewer this approach didn't work. All I can do is encourage you to take a look. I think it's a really excellent book and opens up all sorts of conversation possibilities way beyond the average counting book.
First sentence: None. One. Two. Three. Four. More. Even More. About a dozen. Lots.
Premise/plot: Tiny Cat is counting his (or her) balls of yarn. At first this is easy for tiny cat. But it doesn't stay easy. What comes after four?! Tiny Cat's not exactly sure. But that doesn't stop her from having FUN counting.
My thoughts: I really, really, really LOVED this one. I love the expressiveness of Tiny Cat. In particular. I love the expression for "lots" "some extra" "too much" and "enough." The story is told with just a few words. These words--like the number words--might be familiar to preschoolers. And I wouldn't be surprised if little ones end up memorizing this one and reading it themselves. I think one can definitely read the story based on the pictures alone.
Text: 5 out of 5 Illustrations: 4 out of 5 Total: 9 out of 10
Tiny Cat loves his balls of yarn. In fact he can count from zero to four before he starts getting more than he can count. Funny look at a greedy kitten who has more, about a dozen, lots, some extra, and too many. Finally satisfied, Tiny Cat has enough.
Although this book is brief, it is very satisfying. Minimal text - counting words only - complement minimal illustrations - showing only a fluffly black-outlined kitten and red balls of yarn and nothing else.
The text seems to mimic the counting capacity of a preschooler; one, two, three, more, about a dozen, lots, even more, too many, enough. (I'll have to check the text when I get back to work at the library...but that is roughly what it says.)
Even though an adult watching a child go through this counting process would be struggling to not reveal how funny-cute it is to watch, I don't believe that actual preschoolers, kindergarteners, or first-graders hearing the book read aloud will feel condescended to, because the small-scale drama of trying to count but quickly feeling overwhelmed is such a common experience for any age person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In this engaging introduction to numbers, an adorable little cat counts red spools of thread. Looking alarmed when he has none, he proceeds to happily hold first one, then two, three, and four. After that, instead of numbers, number concepts are introduced as he gets “more”, “lots”, “as many as you can get”, “some extra” and “too many”. The final scene shows the kitten contentedly sleeping atop a pile of red balls labeled as “Enough.” The story is told simply; most pages contain just one word. The mischievous cat is rendered in minimalist white and gray colors inside a bold black outline with red squiggles to indicate the balls, and the clean white background dominates the pages.
This is a sturdy board book version of Schwarz’s previously issued picture book introduction to numbers, in which an adorable kitten counts red spools of thread. Starting with none, the kitten next happily holds first one, then two, three, and four balls of thread. After that, he gets “more”, “lots”, “as many as you can get”, “some extra” and “too many”. In the final scene the kitten contentedly sleeps atop a pile of red balls labeled as “Enough.” The kitten’s expressions are eloquently portrayed using simple gray and black brush strokes on a clean white background; minimalist red squiggles indicate the balls.
Tiny cat starts with none and works his way up to as many balls as a cat could need. Tiny cat is an adorable little feline, full of personality and expression.
Though extremely simple in concept, this counting book helps readers build their vocabulary, adding in phrases like “some extra” and “about a dozen” all while being captivated by Tiny cat and his adventures with balls of yarn.
Uh oh! Tiny Cat can't count and if you really want your kid to know how to count, make sure they understand that math is theoretical and numbers aren't real, because Tiny Cat can't count and eventually stops using "real" numbers anyway, illustrated by cute little red balls held by a cute line drawing of a cat.
Een superleuk boek over een kat en tellen, maar het is niet zo simpel als 1, 2, 3, ballen met wol. Oh nee! En ik was er echt dolblij mee want ik was toch even bang dat dit weer zo'n simpel (en misschien een tikje saai) boek zou zijn. Gelukkig dus niet! Ik zal verder niks verklappen~ Ik heb heerlijk gelachen om deze eigenwijze kat en zijn vele bolletjes wol.
Iggi's Storytime Criteria Age group: toddlers+ Content: counting, cats, humor Plot: Tiny Cat can count to four, but beyond that things get silly Wordiness: low, one word per page Length: short Illustrations: adorable Page Gloss: satin Other: very funny, good for kids just learning and anyone who loves a short book that ends with cute jokes, also cats
Wonderfully illustrate how number, math counting works. It’s a good book to teach math to toddler. It has it own sense of humor that makes us laugh. It’s another book that my toddler like. It’s fun to enjoy and love learning math together
A very silly and simple counting book. The cat helps readers count up to four then many quantity words like more and dozen. A great book for storytime.
Love it. The simplicity of the illustrations, the simplicity of the colours, the simplicity of the text, the end papers, I just loved it. Not read it to my boys yet but made me giggle.
Very cute illustrations with minimal text. A fun counting book for toddlers who have short attention spans and can't sit for a longer story. Perfect for toddler storytime.