The Twelve Days of Summer

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

The Twelve Days of Summer begins when a child discovers a sparrow’s
nest hidden in the grass of a summer garden. Following the familiar
pattern of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” subsequent discoveries
include two goatsbeard seeds, three ruffed grouse, four garter snakes,
five bumble bees, six hawks, seven moles, eight toads, nine daisies, 10
crows, 11 swallows, and 12 eggs waiting to hatch.

Accompanying Andrews’s lyrics are Jolliffe’s whimsical
illustrations, which become increasingly complex as more and more
discoveries are made. Initially somewhat muted and pastel, her drawings
become increasingly colourful and vibrant as the pages become crowded
with the inhabitants of the garden. Young readers will delight in
finding the human objects cleverly inserted in each drawing, which are
somehow related to the creatures in the verse (e.g., a fan for the
grouse, a shovel for the moles, a pot of honey for the bees).

Andrews has thoughtfully included a “Facts—Common and Curious”
section with a wealth of information and trivia about the flowers,
birds, and animals of the song.

As a counting book, the volume will challenge children to find and
count the objects and animals on each page. Recommended.