CLICK CLACK SPLISH SPLASH: a counting adventure

Bibliography: Cronin, Doreen. Click clack splish splash: a counting adventure.  Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006. Print.        

ISBN: 0689877161

Two webbed feet creep past the sleeping farmer, four chickens standing by, six goats load a boat… farmer gets a big surprise!  In this entertaining picture book kids will go on a counting adventure with Duck, as he and the rest of Farmer Brown’s clever animals execute a rescue mission.

The illustrations alone tell the story.  Lewin’s ability to depict sneaky mischievous gestures and body language on the animals also adds crucial details to the storyline.  This allows the reader to interpret the underlying story of Duck’s plan to rescue the fish.   The numbers 1 through 10 advance a predictable blueprint for the story, while the unpredictable feats of Duck’s rescue plan keeps you intrigued. I found the style of this counting book unique because the author uses the concept of counting to advance the story rather than using rhyming words to connect unrelated objects.   

Activity:

Math - The numbers from one through ten are featured, and only those numbers.  Any student who needs basic counting reinforcement can practice their skills and basic number recognition as you read Click Clack Splish Splash to them.

Related Books:

Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett Illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Reviews:

Young readers will want to read this one again and again, as much for the surprise awaiting Farmer Brown as for the rollicking rhymes and rhythms of the text. Lewin's watercolors again hit the mark, perfectly targeting the youngest audiences…  A must-have sequel to all of Duck's adventures. (Excerpt from Kirkus Reviews, 2006)

Fast on the webbed feet of Click, Clack, Quackity Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure comes this counting companion, again starring Duck as the instigator of mischievous, though well-intentioned fun… Lewin's black-outlined menagerie is as breezy as ever, tiptoeing, climbing or splashing through lots of white space to the final destination. (Excerpt from Publishers Weekly, 2005)

 

References:

2006. "CLICK, CLACK, SPLISH, SPLASH: A Counting Adventure." Kirkus Reviews 74, no. 1: 38. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed January 26, 2014).

2005. "Click, Clack, Splish, Splash: A Counting Adventure." Publishers Weekly 252, no. 46: 46. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed January 26, 2014).