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The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book
The frost is melting and it’s time for spring! That means field trips, planting school gardens, and discovering new friends for this adventurous class as their teacher introduces them to the season one gift at a time. Two turtle ponds, four ladybugs, and a class full of curious kids equals a whole lot of fun!
Young readers will love following the students’ hilarious misadventures as these rambunctious kindergartners explore the delights of spring, including mud, frogs, and baby farm animals. The whimsical illustrations reveal new surprises on every page.
F&P K
F&P RF
Young readers will love following the students’ hilarious misadventures as these rambunctious kindergartners explore the delights of spring, including mud, frogs, and baby farm animals. The whimsical illustrations reveal new surprises on every page.
F&P K
F&P RF
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 9, 2022
Honestly, if one is going to adapt the song The Twelve Days of Christmas into a text specifically about springtime such as author Deborah Lee Rose is obviously trying to do with her The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book, one should definitely and of course make sure that the gifts etc. for each of the twelve featured days also have to do with spring as a season.
And no, this is unfortunately only very partially the case with The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book. For while at the beginning of the adapted song, Deborah Lee Rose certainly presents scenarios like a garden, ponds, seedlings and ladybugs (and all definitely quite springlike), the latter part of The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book features much more generic and for and to me not particularly seasonal objects and activities like stars, street signs, musical notes and finally for some strange reason flag waving (none of which I really would consider as being part and parcel to springtime as a season).
But albeit that one might want to point out that much of the contents of The Twelve Days of Christmas does not seem to perhaps be particularly Christmassy in nature either, this is still considered a traditional Yuletide song. And indeed, if an author like Deborah Lee Rose decides to make use of The Twelve Days of Christmas as a base, as a general set-up for a picture book about spring, for The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book, then most readers and most listeners would probably and for me with more than ample justification be expecting ALL or at least most of the featured examples to be very specifically and totally related to springtime, to what happens and what one does during said season, and yes, that this is most definitely not really the case with The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book is definitely a major lack and is really making me massively textually cringe.
And finally, combined with the fact of the matter that I am also finding the vast majority of illustrator Carey Armstrong Ellis’ depicted human figures (and in particular the teacher and students) as being totally aesthetically unpleasantly rendered and if I am being blunt and perfectly brutally truthful as majorly and utterly visually ugly, sorry, but for me, both textually and illustratively The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book leaves absolutely everything to be desired, is a one star book and one which I would never even remotely consider recommending.
And no, this is unfortunately only very partially the case with The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book. For while at the beginning of the adapted song, Deborah Lee Rose certainly presents scenarios like a garden, ponds, seedlings and ladybugs (and all definitely quite springlike), the latter part of The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book features much more generic and for and to me not particularly seasonal objects and activities like stars, street signs, musical notes and finally for some strange reason flag waving (none of which I really would consider as being part and parcel to springtime as a season).
But albeit that one might want to point out that much of the contents of The Twelve Days of Christmas does not seem to perhaps be particularly Christmassy in nature either, this is still considered a traditional Yuletide song. And indeed, if an author like Deborah Lee Rose decides to make use of The Twelve Days of Christmas as a base, as a general set-up for a picture book about spring, for The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book, then most readers and most listeners would probably and for me with more than ample justification be expecting ALL or at least most of the featured examples to be very specifically and totally related to springtime, to what happens and what one does during said season, and yes, that this is most definitely not really the case with The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book is definitely a major lack and is really making me massively textually cringe.
And finally, combined with the fact of the matter that I am also finding the vast majority of illustrator Carey Armstrong Ellis’ depicted human figures (and in particular the teacher and students) as being totally aesthetically unpleasantly rendered and if I am being blunt and perfectly brutally truthful as majorly and utterly visually ugly, sorry, but for me, both textually and illustratively The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book leaves absolutely everything to be desired, is a one star book and one which I would never even remotely consider recommending.
March 18, 2014
My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library last week.
This book has a clever and cute concept, and the text mostly works, although in some place it does feel strained. It was the illustrations that I found off-putting. There was humor in the illustrations, but not nearly enough charm.
This book has a clever and cute concept, and the text mostly works, although in some place it does feel strained. It was the illustrations that I found off-putting. There was humor in the illustrations, but not nearly enough charm.
May 10, 2013
I liked the idea of this book ("The Twelve Days of Christmas" with a spring theme), but thought it was poorly executed. The illustrations were unappealing, and some of the author's choices for the particular days weren't spring-related. It was a flop with my four-year-old daughter, too.
February 9, 2023
What I loved: The illustrations! There are so many things going on in the illustrations, it is fun to study the pictures and see what kind of fun things the artist decided to include. I also love that the book is based off the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", so it's fun to have the repetition and the song going through your head as you read.
What I didn't care for: I felt the author could have been a little more creative with the choices for each of the days. Since it is supposed to be "The Twelve Days of Springtime", I wish the author would have chosen to stay more specific to springtime type items.
What I didn't care for: I felt the author could have been a little more creative with the choices for each of the days. Since it is supposed to be "The Twelve Days of Springtime", I wish the author would have chosen to stay more specific to springtime type items.
September 23, 2018
This book would be great for Pre-K –Kindergarten. The illustrations are bright and colorful and young readers would enjoy seeing the funny troublesome ways of the children in the story. This is a really good because the students can actually see the number as well as count the objects shown. This is also a good book to introduce poetry and rhyme.
July 19, 2022
Fun illustrations, repetitive based on the theme the 12 days of Christmas but about school and springtime. I found myself singing the Christmas tune reading the singular events and adding the previous activities.
April 17, 2023
A counting and rhyming tale involving twelve days of Springtime to a familiar cumulative song. A teacher and her class spend each of the days in the Springtime weather planting, exploring and enjoying themselves. The pictures and illustrations are fun to delve into as each day happens.
March 25, 2025
Interesting concept. Not sure all the days are a true celebration or connection to spring? Flags, for example are not necessarily spring-related. The illustrations are silly, colorful and animated but quite amateurish. I would like to read the other “Twelve Days” books.
May 7, 2017
I found myself singing the book rather than reading it to my daughter.
February 10, 2013
This book is an excellent book for children, especially those in primary grades. The author uses the melody of the 12 days of Christmas song to represent the twelve days of springtime. This book deficiently has rhythm. This book also has very elaborate illustrations. As a teacher, this would be a great book to use for math. This book uses ordering numbers which is something that children begin working on in kindergarten. Also, this book can be helpful for younger students learning to count forward and backwards. Then, this book is great for sequencing and sorting events by what happened first, next, and last. This would be a great book to use for teaching writing as well, because the author uses repetition and writes the story somewhat like a poem. Also, to help students learn the importance of word choice and how words can really make a difference in your writing. For example, the author uses words ending in –ing that make the text flow. Overall, this is a great book to use in language arts, math, and Science.
February 5, 2013
What a fun book! This book incorporates music, which always gets the kids moving and engaged. The illustrations are very vivid and bright and bring each page to life! This book can also be used as a simple math lesson of counting numbers 1-10 forward and backward. This book would be best used for Pre-K through First Grade.
March 8, 2016
What a fun book to kick off spring! My students started singing along immediately and were enamored by the busy illustrations. We used it to kick off a spelling activity about all the things we counted and went on a sign hunt to read our own signs around the school like the students in the story.
March 11, 2009
This would be great for a teacher who loves to sing or is looking for a way to bring music in her class. You can sing along to the tune. It is simple but would work well for a spring theme in a classroom. Ages K+
February 23, 2011
Fun! I enjoy the spring theme and my 2 year old loved the rhythm of the book. The little stories in the picture like the girl who loves horses is amusing. I also like that the kids come in all shapes and sizes.
March 26, 2009
This is a cute book for a teacher to read to her class for spring! But it would also apply to anyone looking for cute spring books especially about counting!
April 14, 2010
My two-year old loves any book that requires that her parents sing the words to it. The illustrations remind me of the "Speed Bump" comic strip.
October 19, 2010
My favorite part of this book ... how with each successive day the teacher starts to look a little more frazzled. :]
April 3, 2016
Cute children's school counting picture book on the line of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Fun read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews