Abigail by Catherine Rayner

Abigail loves to count. It is her very favourite thing. But when she tries counting Zebra's stripes and Cheetah's spots, they just won't sit still. It's hopeless! What will Abigail do? A beautiful book by award-winning author-illustrator Catherine Rayner, full of gorgeous illustrations of Abigail the giraffe and her friends Cheetah and Zebra. Abigail is a perfect bedtime read with a stunning fold-out night sky ending. Catherine Rayner is the winner of the 2009 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for Harris Finds His Feet and illustrator and author of Solomon Crocodile and Augustus and his Smile.

This is a beautiful book, a lovely story with accompanying beautiful illustrations. The story encourages counting and enforces the idea of counting anything, anywhere. The story includes a number of different wild animals living in their natural habitats. 

I really liked the message within this book - it is possible to encourage counting while carrying out everyday tasks or on a walk and this is what Abigail is trying to do throughout the story.  I also like the illustrations - the giraffe looks like a real giraffe, no cartoony illustrations included within this book!

I would recommend this book as the perfect gift for a young child who loves reading books or is beginning to learn to count. It is a book which would make a beautiful gift, one which would be treasured for many years to come and I am sure it would become a favourite, very quickly.

Abigail is part of Little Tiger's Summer Reading Challenge, Reading Rocks. On the Reading Rocks webiste, there are lots of fun activities, author interviews and a fantastic competition to encourage reading this summer.

I received this book for the publishers, Little Tiger, in return for an honest review.