One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller

One fox… three plump hens… oh dear. Silently, stealthily the fox creeps towards his prey… we see his sharp teeth (ten of them) but then an explosion of feathers as a hundred angry hens burst across the double spread.

This is an exciting debut. Kate Read’s artwork is vigorous and refreshing, her vibrant colours and textured images drawing on her background as a textile artist, while the drama of her illustrations in which a single figure or detail takes centre stage surely derives from her work as a theatre designer. For this is indeed a picture book that is full of drama – but just like an illustrious predecessor, Rosie’s Walk – the tension is created through the simplest of means, rises to a crescendo then to a conclusion that is completely satisfying. The text is minimal. Here the vocabulary has been chosen with care drawing on apposite adjectives and alliteration to add to the suspense of the ascending numbers. These are matched to appropriate objects that in themselves create tension – this is a counting book thriller, indeed. What an exciting introduction to counting. This is likely to become a favourite not because of its educational value but because of the engaging story. Highly recommended; an artist to watch.