Old Macdonald had a Farm: A Slide and Count Book

By Author / Illustrator

Camilla Reid, Jill Howarth

Genre

Early Skills

Age range(s)

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

ISBN

9781035023356

Format

Board book

Published

23-05-2024

Synopsis

A brilliantly engaging interactive counting book - slide the buttons along the special track to count all your favourite farmyard animals from the popular nursery rhyme, Old Macdonald had a Farm.

Little children will have huge fun moving the buttons around the page to bring Old Macdonald's noisy farmyard to life! A counting book like no other, created by bestselling author Camilla Reid, with an irresistible and hugely satisfying interactive element that makes this the perfect way to introduce preschoolers to counting.

Packed full of sheep, cows, pigs and other favourite farm animals - and of course a noisy tractor - Old Macdonald had a Farm has richly detailed scenes with heaps of detail to spot, illustrated by the hugely talented Jill Howarth.

Look out for Five Little Ducks, a slide and count book.

Reviews

Old MacDonald Had a Farm: A Slide and Count Book is based on the traditional nursery rhyme to create a fun learning experience for young children aged two years plus.

The board book's front cover sets the tone, with five counters that can be slide around a twisty road leading to a barn. The illustrations are friendly and fun, and on each counter is a farm animal as well as one with the farmer on his noisy tractor.

Inside the book, each page includes another twisty turny route for the tractor and animals, with children using them to count from one to five as the song progresses from one tractor, two pigs, three cows and so on; on the last spread, all five counters on the front page reappear for a final 'goodnight'.

The person sharing the book will need to make sure that all the counters are ready at the top of each page, before reading it, to make it easier for the counters to be moved. When I shared this, I angled the page so gravity helps the counters slide down and it made the short journey a lot of fun for the children.

This counting book is a novel and fun way for children to learn to count from one to five while for younger children, it's a lovely way to help their fine motor skills as they learn to push and pull with their fingers. The board book format is sturdy, although you still need care to avoid marking the pages.

Board book / Reviewed by Elen Green