Storytime!

There was one little baby who was born faraway
And another who was born on the very next day
And both of these babies, as everyone knows
Had ten little fingers and ten little toes

So begins the new picture book from Mem Fox, due to be released at the end of the month. For her 32nd children’s book, Fox has teamed up with acclaimed illustrator Helen Oxenbury, who incidentally, illustrated the first book I ever owned as a baby, Family. Oxenbury is better known for her award-winning illustration of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, while Fox surely needs no introduction to Australian parents, having authored such classics as Possum Magic and my son’s favourite, Where Is The Green Sheep?

So it’s not surprising that Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is an instantly appealing hard-cover book, with Oxenbury’s characteristically warm and loving cover drawing inviting readers in.

My 18-month-old stopped what he was doing when I began to read aloud and seemed to enjoy the colourful pictures and rhyming, repetitive text comparing babies born around the world. What each of the babies has in common, of course, is ten little fingers and ten little toes. The illustrations of chubby, dimpled, and wrinkled fingers and toes are particularly delightful and should be avoided by anyone vaguely clucky.

While the book does operate as an introduction to counting — ideally it should be read with child on lap so the child’s own fingers and toes may be counted — it’s really a celebration of the joy that chubby newborn babies bring. It would make a lovely baby shower gift accompanied by a pair of delightful booties or mittens.

The emotional combination of the images and text makes this a definite favourite of Fox’s for me. It’s a 5 out of 5 on the jelly baby scale.