SOLVED. 80s or older hardback children's picture book about counting and birds, with watercolour style illustrations. [s]

[Rachel]

I have only the vaguest memories of this book which I owned as a small child, so apologies in advance for being short on detail.

I had the book in the mid 1980s, but it could have been a little older. My parents don't remember it and the copy I owned has gone missing over the years.

I remember it as a thin hardback book of about A4 size, and I think the cover was brown and white. Mainly I remember the illustrations, which were beautiful drawings of birds in a kind of watercolour style. I remember the colours being quite muted, lots of brown, grey and blue.

I don't think there was very much text in the book but I do seem to remember a counting theme. Something like, "Three geese fly away" on a page with a drawing of the geese, and then "Four swallows in a tree" with the number of birds increasing on every page. (These examples are not the exact wording, but it was something to do with numbers and birds).

Aaand that's all I have to go on. I feel like I would recognise it from the cover and/or the illustrations, but I know nothing about the title or author. Just hoping someone else might recognise it from the description.

[Kiri]

Could it be something by Leo Lionni? That's what comes to mind for me when you describe this, although I think of his work as brighter. But it was watercolors and very beautiful.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had a look at the list of Lionni books and I didn't recognise any of them. The illustration style is somewhat similar though.

This link shows some images which are similar to how I remember the book: http://hollyexley.blogspot.co.uk/2013...

[Ayshe]

Could it be How Many Birds by Heather Amery?

[Rachel]

Thanks Ayshe, but I don't think this is it. The illustrations were not as colourful as this - more realistic and less cartoonish.

[Adele]

There is A Bundle of Birds This was published in New Zealand in 1987, so it is unlikely to be your book, but take a look at the gorgeous cover here: http://www.wormhole.com.au/?page=shop...

More likely to be your book is Birds by Mollie Clarke. This book is not on goodreads and I could not find a picture of the cover anywhere, but it was published in 1970 in Exeter, and it is part of the Observe and Learn series. You can see a picture of Stems from the same series and author here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OBSERVE-AND... and if you replace the drawings of flowers with birds it looks very much the way you describe. Also, unlike Stems, the Birds book is described as a counting book.

[Rachel]

Thanks Adele, I don't think it is A Bundle of Birds as I don't recognise the cover.

The Mollie Clarke one is a possibility but I'd need to see the pictures to rule it in or out. I'll see if I can get hold of a copy anywhere.

[Rachel]

bump. I haven't ruled out Mollie Clarke but interested in any other suggestions.

[Adele]

Is it possible that it is not just birds? I am now thinking of This book starts with the line "1 is one duckling swimming in a dish" and also includes "3 is three swallows up in the sky" which sounds exactly like what you describe, but the line for 2 is "2 is two sisters making a wish" Of course, there are two birds on that page as well. You can look inside on amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OVDHDK/... - and a google image search for 1 is One also returns several interior pictures.

If that is not it, there is My Book of Birds by Frederick Warne, which is probably too old, but you can see the cover and some of the inside pictures here: http://veescave.co.uk/shop/books/othe...

One more less likely possibility:

[Rachel]

Thanks for the suggestions, Adele. 1 is One could be a possibility, but it only looks somewhat familiar. Weirdly I'm sure the book I remember was portrait rather than landscape layout, which this isn't. So... I'm still not sure!

[Rachel]

I'm now pretty sure that 1 Is One is the book, so moving this to solved. Many thanks Adele for your help.

[Adele]

You're welcome. I'm sorry you didn't get that fun and satisfying eureka moment when you see a book and immediately know it is the right one, but I'm glad you found your book in the end.

[Rachel]

I was convinced I would know the book as soon as I saw it - but I think it's just been so long (30+ years) since I read it, and I was so young at the time, that my memory has got fuzzy over the years. It's definitely the right book though!