The Pear Tree

There is so much to look at and learn from this beautifully illustrated picture book. As well as a counting book it is also a guide to the seasons, a guide to the wildlife that live in the pear tree and it teaches the months of the year. Written in the lyrical and repetitive style of a well-known Christmas carol, it is a delightful book to read aloud and share with young children. As the seasons pass the narrator, and the reader, are shown the pear tree in all its guises-- bare and covered in snow, blooming with blossom, bursting with fruit. One by one the creatures that live in the tree are introduced and can be spotted amongst its branches and in the area in which the tree grows. From one pigeon in a pear tree to 12 closed-up snails, the reader can spot the creatures as they go about their business in and around the tree: "On the first day of May / My sister showed to me / Five ladybirds / Four squirrels chasing / Three bees finding pollen / Two starlings bringing grubs / And a pigeon in a pear tree." This is an unusual and highly effective counting picture book for young readers. (Ages 3 to 7) --Philippa Reece