A Caribbean Counting Book

Come chile and stay awhile. 

THREE PROS

*In my neverending quest to expose my son to culture outside of my own experiences, this is a definite asset 

*Even though it's a little Jamaica-heavy, there's a nice assortment of ditties from around the Caribbean
*You can show off to other parents when you pull one of these gems out of your hat at playgroup

THREE CONS 

*If you live in the USA, the English you will be teaching your kid will not be up to snuff   

*A few too many of these songs involve death and pain for my taste

*The rhyme from the Dutch West Indies is barely worth your time (but it is the easiest to remember)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Faustin Charles island-hopped in order to create the book I am reviewing today -- and I must say it was a fruitful trip.  [Especially if you like stories revolving around fruit.]  Aided by the simple but contextual drawings of his illustrating partner, Roberta Arenson, the songs come to life.  Still, it's not perfect by any means.  Almost every rhyme is on the longish side, resulting in a book that shouldn't really be read from cover to cover but rather one or two pages at a time.  I also have to ding it a bit since no originality went into the text outside of the method it was retrieved.  Overall, a quality printing but nothing you need to rush out to grab...

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