"The Ship Captain's Tale" is a wonderful counting adventure with a special nautical theme, and many extra learning opportunities for young readers.
Inviting brightly colored illustrations of a retired captain beside a dark blue sea begin the story. "Ahoy, Mateys!" The ship captain greets a group of children on a beach, beginning his story, which is a special counting adventure set on a ship. What ensues is an entertaining voyage both forwards and backwards through counting from numbers one through twelve, embedded in a highly amusing cruisers' tale. The Queen of the Sea was a huge, happy ship, as it set off to sea with all its crew and passengers. However, an unusual problem arises, while the captain is napping with earplugs to overcome a headache. The noon whistle blows (loudly) on time, and will not stop! Then the counting begins: 1 (one) activity director ended the games. 2 (two) passengers stood still. 3 (three) guitarists stopped strumming. 4 (four) sailors stopped swabbing....etc. all the way up to 12 (twelve) birds scattered overhead. Each number is written in contrasting color with the number word in matching color highlighted text. Suspense and drama build, with everyone on board becoming involved and concerned. Luckily, the ship's captain is awakened and finally manages to discover a solution! Hooray! Everyone celebrates, and the dozen things returned to normal, in backwards sequence. The matching, jubilantly riotous illustrations of each different number of objects/animals/people are funny and descriptive, drawing attention to the concepts of cause and effect and before and after. Finally the day on The Queen of the Sea ends quietly, with everyone happy again. Following the uniquely presented counting adventure is a Resource Guide for teachers, parents, and librarians, listing story concepts, reader and listener tips, and reader and listener connections. There are even two pages devoted to learning to count in different languages, presenting symbols and words for numbers 1 through 6 in English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. Each language has correct and phonetic spellings of the number names, in corresponding (matching by number) rainbow colors. "The Ship Captain's Tale" provides excellent education and entertainment in one sleek, inviting book which kids age 5 and up will love.
