One, two, three… Climb!

Review also includes:

One, two, three… Crawl!, 978-1846436147

One, two, three… Jump!, 978-1846436154

One, two, three… Run!, 978-1846436161

These robust little books show very young children exploring  their world with tremendous enthusiasm and determination.   Often they do so in a sociable manner, enjoying the company of a friend.  Climb! shows two youngsters scaling a large sofa  and leaning over the back together. The sheer exhilaration of a joint activity shines out of the picture of two little children leaping about on a springy bed in Jump! There’s not much sign of grown-ups helping and that’s good as children want to become independent.  But in this book an adult’s supportive arms ensuring a safe landing are glimpsed on one page . In Run! a young child wears a backpack in the shape of a little green monster and his small companion grasps on to this as they run up a hillock.  The sheer energy of young children rushing about together is especially evident in this book. But sometimes children like to have a quieter adventure on their own. In Crawl! a young child creeps under a table and spots the feet of the adults sitting there.  Most children will see a child like themselves in the books: in Climb! a little boy is shown wearing glasses.  The written text is used skilfully to describe the activities – in Run!,  for example, we have ‘run up …and down’, ‘through the swishy grass’ and ‘all the way back home’.  The playful aspect of exploration is often shown: in Jump! children pretend to be rabbits, chickens and kangaroos jumping.  Sharing these books would help young children resavour  the activities of the day and reinforce the language to describe them.