Counting to Bananas: A Mostly Rhyming Fruit Book

by Carrie Tillotson, Estrela Lourenço (Illustrator)

Overview

A hilarious, mostly-rhyming picture book about a banana and narrator who can't quite agree on what their book is about. Perfect for fans of Mo Willems' We Are in a Book and Adam Rex's Nothing Rhymes With Orange!

"Mo Willems fans will give this book one, two, three, four, five stars!" --Parents

"Tillotson's rib-tickling debut is not to be missed!"--Kirkus

When a narrator starts filling this story with fruit, Banana can’t wait to step into the spotlight. The book is called Counting to Bananas, after all. But as more and more fruits (and non-fruits) are added to the story, Banana objects. When will it be time for bananas?!

With laugh-out-loud text from debut author Carrie Tillotson and brought to life by illustrator Estrela Lourenço this is the story of a banana and narrator who have very strong opinions about what should (and should not!) be in this book.

The perfect next read for fans of Jory John and Pete Oswald's The Bad Seed series, as well at Ryan T. Higgins' Hey, Bruce!

Praise for Counting to Bananas:
"In the tradition of Mac Barnett’s Count the Monkeys, Tillotson’s rib-tickling debut is not to be missed . . . Lourenço’s digitally created illustrations of cartoon fruit with faces and expressive animals are bright, dynamic, and foolish. Fruity fun for everyone." --Kirkus

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593405390
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Before Carrie Tillotson started writing children’s books, she worked as a biostatistician. Her job involved counting a lot of numbers (but not many bananas). Counting to Bananas is her debut picture book. She lives in Oregon with her family, two dogs, and two chickens. Although bananas are not her favorite fruit, she loves a warm slice of banana bread. You can visit Carrie online at carrietillotson.com or follow her on Twitter @carrietillotson and on Instagram @carrietillotson.

Estrela Lourenço is a Portuguese professional children’s book author and illustrator, and also a storyboard artist for animation. She has been living in Ireland since 2009, when she met her Irish partner and their dog, Chewie, who both made her fall in love with the country even more. Her favorite fruit is peaches, but she keeps getting bananas because they’re Chewie’s favorite! You can visit Estrela online at estrelalourenco.pt or follow her on Twitter @LourencoEstrela and on Instagram @estrela.lourenco.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Counting to Bananas:

"An endearing yet opinionated banana makes learning numbers hilarious…Mo Willems fans will give this book one, two, three, four, five stars!" —Parents

"In the tradition of Mac Barnett’s Count the Monkeys, Tillotson’s rib-tickling debut is not to be missed . . . Lourenço’s digitally created illustrations of cartoon fruit with faces and expressive animals are bright, dynamic, and foolish. Fruity fun for everyone." —Kirkus

From the Publisher

2022-02-09
Banana is ready to be the star of an all-fruit counting book.

“1 plum / 2 figs / 3 oranges / 4 pigs.” Banana cries foul—pigs aren’t fruit! “But no other fruit rhymes with figs,” explains the invisible narrator, who then goes on to rhyme pears with bears and peaches with leeches. “What about bananas?” Banana wants to know. Banana hollers at the narrator to stop putting animals in a fruit counting book, but alas, Banana’s frustrations are ignored. Banana has had enough but obviously has not learned that it is never a good idea to argue with your narrator. When the text reads “17 lemons / 18 prunes / 19 apricots / 20 baboons,” Banana gets the narrator to change baboons to raccoons but still wants the spotlight…be careful what you ask for Banana! In the tradition of Mac Barnett’s Count the Monkeys (2013), Tillotson’s rib-tickling debut is not to be missed. The silly argumentative text plays out in speech balloons sharing the pages with simple numerical descriptions progressing from one to 20 and then counting up by tens to 100. Ireland-based Portuguese illustrator Lourenço’s digitally created illustrations of cartoon fruit with faces and expressive animals are bright, dynamic, and foolish. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Fruity fun for everyone. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews