Count on Goz - Steve Weatherill

Count On Goz by Steve Weatherill

A great way for very young children to be introduced to counting up to 5 and to learn about number formation. Children do tend to enjoy lift the flap books, so it's almost certainly going to be a winner.

Many children will already be familiar with Goz, the appealing yellow gosling. This time, we meet Goz in the early morning, near the river when everything is quiet.

A little ...
...as developing an ability to count and recognise numbers to 5.

The simple text means that it is suitable for National Curriculum Reading, because children can easily see and be encouraged to point out capital letters, full stops and question marks. Because the animals are easily distinguishable, even if they can't read the words, they can be encouraged to use picture clues.

A useful book for very young children who are ... more

Count On Goz by Steve Weatherill

A great way for very young children to be introduced to counting up to 5 and to learn about number formation. Children do tend to enjoy lift the flap books, so it's almost certainly going to be a winner.

Many children will already be familiar with Goz, the appealing yellow gosling. This time, we meet Goz in the early morning, near the river when everything is quiet.

A little yellow goose is bottoms up... "Who's this?" Lift the flap and we find that it is who most children guess it is, Goz. He has just been for a swim, and is now unable to find the other geese. So starts his search...

Along the way, he meets a cow, sheep, cats and dogs before finally coming across the geese. Each time he meets a new animal, the story follows the same format. We see the head of the animal and on the top of the llift up flap, Goz asks the question "Hello. Are the geese here?" Children will shout that the animal in question is not a goose, so it's a good introduction to animals, and to talking about what animals look like, and how we know it's not the geese.

Once Goz has asked the question, the flap can be lifted up, and we have the answer to the question. The cow is a cow and 1 calf, the sheep and 2 lambs, the cat and 3 kittens, the dog and 4 puppies. Finally, we see the geese sitting by the pond, but Goz is nowhere to be seen. Lift the flap, and there he is under his mother's wing, 5 goslings. So, a happy ending, Goz is safely with his mother and siblings.

The illustrations take up a double page spread with the lift up flap being at the right hand side of the page, having set the scene for each animal on the left hand side. In one sentence, we are told who Goz meets and where before trying to discover whether the geese have been found or not.

There is very little text and it's all written in simple sentences with each number being in a bold font to emphasise the writing of it.

~~Other bits of information~~

ISBN: 0-7112-0691-0

Publisher: Frances Lincoln, 1991.

~~Other baby Goz books~~

Baby Goz- When I Grow Up

Good Night Goz

Baby Goz

The books are in no particular order although baby Goz is the one which introduces us to Goz. However, they can all be read independently of each other and are stand alone texts.

~~What I think of the book~~

As a book to introduce and consolidate early number recognition, and counting skills, I do like this. The characters appeal to young children, and the illustrations are bold and colourful, with each animal being easily recognised.

The book encourages talk about animals and the names of baby animals, as well as developing an ability to count and recognise numbers to 5.

The simple text means that it is suitable for National Curriculum Reading, because children can easily see and be encouraged to point out capital letters, full stops and question marks. Because the animals are easily distinguishable, even if they can't read the words, they can be encouraged to use picture clues.

A useful book for very young children who are beginning to count.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela x 

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