Simple Counting

You Count! is the latest release from our friend Champ Thornton. Looking at the cover gives you a very clear idea of what this book is. It’s a simple, rhyming board book that walks kids and parents through a countdown from five to help them calm down. It’s similar in scope to Count Yourself Calm (reviewed here), but takes a slightly different approach and is aimed squarely at a younger audience (hence the board book format). I think it’s a great book for home or church. Here are five reasons why.

1. Encourages Engagement

Thornton encourages kids to engage with the world around them when they’re feeling sad, alone, or odd. Counting down from five, he invites kids (and their parents as they read with them) to use their five senses to interact with the environment they’re in. Use your eyes to find five shapes, or your fingers to feel four different textures. God made a world that our kids can navigate with their senses, and the emotions that they’re wrestling with. They don’t have to run and hide from either, because God is with them every step of the way.

2. Layered Illustrations

David Creighton-Pester knocked it out of the park with the illustrations here. Each page is engaging for kids, full of life and color. Some have hidden numbers for your little reader to find on each page (ex. search for the 3 on the page that has them name three sounds they can hear). Others do a great job of making smells, sounds, or things you can touch feel real when talking about them with your kids. It’s a simple thing, but it helps bring the ideas from the text to life as you’re reading along and your child can discover these connections.

3. Embraces Reality

While childhood is full of joy, excitement, and possibility, kids definitely experience anger, sadness, loss, and frustration just like adults do. Maybe it’s a tough day at school, the disappearance of a favorite stuffed animal, or just missing breakfast that morning. While it’s easy to brush these experiences aside, You Count! gives kids the freedom to wrestle with how they’re feeling, and offers parents a reminder to be present when their kids are experiencing big feelings.

4. Parental Presence

Champ writes with the recognition that kids don’t have to be isolated and alone when they’re experiencing these big feelings. Both his writing and the illustrations make it clear that momma bear is right beside her cub through the journey. It’s a great reminder that parents are called to draw near to their children. Shepherding is up close and personal work, and we shouldn’t shy away from being close when life is tough. This book gives parents some practical tools to help them hang in there during tough situations with their young kids.

5. Guiding to God

More than their own presence, parents can also point their children to the presence of God himself. He knows and loves us and our kids deeply, and longs for us to seek his face in joy and sorrow. Thornton reminds us that God cares about how we feel and what we’re going through. All the counting activities help our kids remember that their emotions count, and remind them that they’re not alone. They don’t have to hide their big feelings and emotions from God. He welcomes their prayers, and longs for them to come to him.