Ten Little Figs; Rhian Williamson, illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom

I love maths and numbers so any book that includes the subject in a storyline is going to get a thumbs-up from me.

A young boy is excited to start harvesting the juicy figs that have been growing on the tree in his garden. But he is not the only one that likes juicy figs and as more and more native Australian animals visit the tree the number of figs becomes less and less. Will the boy get to taste one of the figs before they have all gone…

This is a delightful counting book in the style of the classic ‘Ten Green Bottles’. It is a celebration of the great outdoors, the beauty that can be found in one’s own back yard, the sandpaper fig tree and some adorable Aussie animals. As the boy, accompanied by his dog, helplessly watches on, his fig tree is visited by Hercules moths, rainbow lorikeets, a spotted-tailed quoll and other hungry animals who all ‘steal’ a fig from his tree reducing the number of figs on the tree by one each time. Fortunately, the boy gets a fig at the very end when his helpful daddy appears out of the tree holding one of the juicy fruits.

Told in rhyming prose, the repetitive text will have children joining in and it is the perfect text to read out loud or share. The playful illustrations are bold and bright and depict lovely garden scenes boasting plenty of Australian wildlife. Eagle-eyed readers will spot the animals in the scenes ahead of the their fig-stealing antics - as the rainbow lorikeet is busily making off with its fig, the wombat is sneakily approaching the tree out of sight of the boy ready for its fig raid on the following page.

Figs, fun, frustration and some adorable Australian wildlife. A lovely book for supporting number development and the ideas of counting backwards and taking away that celebrates nature and the great outdoors. Delightful.

Recommended for 3+.