Picture Books — Review

The Twelve Days of Summer

by Jan Andrews
illustrated by Susan Rennick Jolliffe
Orca Book Publishers, 2005
ISBN 1-55143-365-6
$19.95, 32 pp, hc, colour illustrations
ages 4 – 8
www.orcabook.com

This beautiful picture book is patterned on the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and so begins: On my first day of summer / the sunshine brought to me / A song sparrow nest for three. Each subsequent page repeats and builds on this first line, until twelve miracles of summer have been noted. Detailed two-page illustrations provide an opportunity for close observation of nature’s wonders, even in the classroom. Botanical accuracy is fudged a little by anthropomorphic facial expressions, but the result is a joyful representation of natural life that will delight children. This would be a great book to inspire a year-end field trip to observe local flora and fauna. Afterwards, students could create their own pictures of what they had seen. The Twelve Days of Summer could also be used in early primary classrooms for counting practise and in later years to model a creative writing activity. This is one of those books that could be useful in so many ways, that it’s a must-have!

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