Rezension
“A pleasing poem that celebrates babies around the world. Whether from a remote village or an urban dwelling, a tent or the snow, Fox notes that each “of these babies, / as everyone knows, / had ten little fingers / and ten little toes.” Repeated in each stanza, the verse establishes an easy rhythm. Oxenbury’s charming illustrations depict infants from a variety of ethnicities wearing clothing that invokes a sense of place. Her pencil drawings, with clean watercolor washes laid in, are sweetly similar to those in her early board books (Clap Hands, 1987, etc.). Each stanza introduces a new pair of babies, and the illustrations cleverly incorporate the children from the previous stanzas onto one page, allowing readers to count not only fingers and toes but also babies. The last stanza switches its focus from two children to one “sweet little child,” and reveals the narrator as that baby’s mother. Little readers will take to the repetition and counting, while parents will be moved by the last spread: a sweet depiction of mother and baby.” –Kirkus Reviews
“Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, known for We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, this beautiful book tells the story of different babies around the world with one thing in common – ten little fingers and ten little toes. The gentle rhyming means it’s ideal for reading aloud. Warning: it will be much-requested.” –i (The Independent)
Über den Autor
Mem Fox is the acclaimed author of many popular children’s books including Possum Magic, which is a best-selling children’s book in Australia, with more than one million copies sold. In addition to writing children’s books, she is a senior lecturer in education. Mem lives in South Australia with her husband.
All over the world, babies are different. Yet in some ways they are very much the same: each one has ten little fingers and ten little toes to play with, to tickle, to wave. And each child is very, very special to its parents… With Mem Fox’s gently rhyming text illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, best loved as the illustrator of the classic nursery join-in picture book We re Going on a Bear Hunt, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes will fast become the essential book for baby playtime and the perfect gift for a new arrival!