Learn with Ruby Red Shoes. Counting book and Alphabet Book

Learn with Ruby Red Shoes. Counting book and Alphabet Book by Kate Knapp. (Harper Collins publishers) RRP $13.08 PB 978-1-4607-5691-1

Reviewed by Julie Dascoli

Ruby Red Shoes is a white hare who loves to learn. Hop along with Ruby and her chickens as they learn how…

Kate Knapp’s Learning with Ruby red shoes counting book and Alphabet Book are a lovely addition to her vast body of works in the Ruby Red Shoes story collection.

This experienced and esteemed children’s author and artist from Brisbane, works from her design studio, Twiggseeds. As well as books, Kate produces stationary, cards and prints and more all by hand, using pencil, ink and watercolour.

Kate has created beautiful, hard cover books for two to seven-year olds. The gorgeous satin finish and small size is perfect for this age group to browse alone or as a read aloud, bed time story.

They are rhyming stories, with cheerful rhythm and rhyme. I can clearly imagine children asking for these stories again and again, and memorising the verses.

The examples for each, either letter or number is refreshingly different. Such as A is for angels rather than the usual apple and the numbers relating to the antics that Ruby and her pet chickens get up to is also refreshing. I also liked that the numbers go up to twelve instead of stopping at ten.

The illustrations are sweet, gentle, cartoon drawings in pastel shades, giving the books a very old-world appearance.

Ruby’s chickens, which feature a little more heavily in the Alphabet book, have cheeky, endearing expressions on their faces. (How is that even possible on a chicken?) This made me smile.

I think Learn with Ruby Red Shoes Alphabet Book and Learn with Ruby Red Shoes Counting Book would make a lovey addition to any library, at a kindergarten, home or community.