GECKOS In The GARDEN by Ruth Amanda – Picture Books, Children’s Animal Stories, Learning to Count

Geckos in the Garden by Ruth Amanda is a children’s counting book that takes readers through a delightful, rhythmic, aesthetically pleasing romp past a series of hidden geckos.

Amanda starts out with just one gecko in the garden. Every page after, one more is added amongst myriad natural details such as flowers, a snail, a palm tree, garden taps, rocks, a mango tree, leaves, a gate, a bird’s nest, a pond, and more.

Amanda demonstrates a natural sense of narrative arc even within a counting book—readers will feel the climax of the adventure when they arrive at the ninth gecko and read the line, “I spot one—two—no, six—no, more! Nine!” The escalation of the words’ momentum makes the ninth and tenth geckos more dramatic. Furthermore, the clever dénouement includes the narrator realizing the geckos might watch them just as much as they watch the geckos, and this is written alongside an adorable picture of a gecko looking in the window of the narrator’s home.

The rhyme and rhythm of the story are extremely satisfying and feel natural, making the book effective at engaging children learning to count.

The counting practice is not just in the words of the story, but in a scavenger hunt for each of the geckos in the illustrations. When a gecko is hidden in a challenging spot, hints like “I bet I’d find more geckos/If I hunted in the hedge” are integrated into the story. This is sure to create a game out of counting that will please children and adults alike. The images are beautiful and clear at the same time—perfect for ease in counting as well as maintaining interest.

Pristine formatting helps the excellent writing style and lovely images to shine.

The font serves the rhythm of the story, with bold words to guide readers toward the correct emphasis in the line. The images are balanced around the words in such a way that the pleasing layout draws the eye in the correct direction down the page. And finally, the consistent placement and slight tilt to the number on each page (“One!” and “Two!” etc.) creates a predictable and comforting routine for young readers to follow, even making it possible for them to anticipate the number that’s coming next.

Geckos in the Garden is the perfect book for a child learning to count through playful means. Amanda makes it easy for an adult reader to read with a satisfying beat because of the balanced arrangement of words. Any child will surely be inspired to count geckos or other creatures like them upon sight even when the book’s covers have been closed for the day.

Geckos in the Garden by Ruth Amanda won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Little Peeps Awards for Early Readers and Children’s Books.