Ten little hermit crabs by Lee Fox and Shane McG
Allen and Unwin, 2009. 9781741757392.
(Ages 2-5)Recommended. 10 little hermit
crabs live on the seashore.
One by one they disappear. A seagull swoops one up, a shark gobbles
another,
one gets hooked on a fisherman's line. In a satisfying conclusion, one
little
hermit crab alone on the pier finds nine little crabs on the beach each
in its
distinctive shell.
An appealing counting book, Ten little hermit crabs is a
great read aloud because of its rhyming words, alliteration and
repetition of
every second page with the rhyme:
Hush says the
seashore.
Shh, says the sea
How many hermit crabs will there be?
This repetition allows the young listener or
reader to think
about numbers and predict how many crabs will be left and what will
happen to
them. There is factual information at the beginning about hermit crabs
taking
second shells as their homes and each crab has a beautiful different
shell.
The glowing yellow, blue and green colours of the illustrations
by Shane Mcg make each page a delight to turn over. Children will love
the
little eyes on stalks and the comical expressions on the faces of the
crabs and
their predators.
Pat Pledger