Review: 10 Nesting Swallows
10 Nesting Swallows: A Biblical Counting Book
by Tammar Stein, illustrated by Chloë Manasseh-Benjamin
Morehouse Publishing, 2025
Category: Board Books
Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz
On each page of this countdown board book, we find a different species of bird: 10 nesting swallows, 9 chattering cranes, and so on. The activities or characteristics of each bird correspond to a biblical quotation in small print on the same spread, all from "Old Testament" sources. The author and illustrator are both Jewish but the book is from a Christian publisher, which may explain the emphasis on quoting scripture.
Young children may enjoy counting backwards and seeing the various birds, but the biblical aspect may be lost on them. Parents who are biblical scholars may be the best audience for this book. The quotations include citations but no context, and will make little sense to the toddlers at whom a counting board book is ostensibly aimed. Older children who might be intrigued enough to seek out the original source for the quotes are likely to find the format "babyish."
The illustrations are thick-lined, intensely colored paintings with a naive quality to them. The final wordless spread shows one of each kind of bird among flowers and greenery.
In the opinion of this reviewer, this is unique book that may be highly appealing for just the right reader, but could struggle to find a general audience.
The illustrations are thick-lined, intensely colored paintings with a naive quality to them. The final wordless spread shows one of each kind of bird among flowers and greenery.
In the opinion of this reviewer, this is unique book that may be highly appealing for just the right reader, but could struggle to find a general audience.
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Reviewer Heidi Rabinowitz is one of the co-admins of The Sydney
Taylor Shmooze, along with Susan Kusel and Chava Pinchuck. She hosts The
Book of Life Podcast: A Show About Jewish Kidlit (Mostly) at bookoflifepodcast.com.
Heidi is Past President of the Association of Jewish Libraries, and
Library Director at Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida.
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