Young readers will delight in recognising the subjects of this charming story, that leads us through a spring day deep in the countryside, from dawn to dusk. The day begins with a solitary cockerel’s crow and the sunlight falling on two lovebirds in a cage and three china ducks on a wall. Swans, swallows, peacocks, geese and starlings, each lovingly portrayed in Melvin’s signature style, are among the many familiar birds that populate the pages. Intricately worked illustrations combine with a charming text, making this an ideal book to read aloud with children learning to count. Counting Birds, along with Big-Top Benn and Noisy Neighbours, are our first books on a newly dedicated paperback list for children’s picture books. Produced with the same care and attention to detail as all of our books for children, we hope this series will make the innovative and creative artwork, for which Tate Publishing has become so well known, accessible to even wider audiences.