I have chosen to look at the picture book “Six Chicks” by Henrietta Branford in terms of the mathematical learning involved in the book.

The book tells the story of Red Hen, who is trying to get her 6 chicks to sleep. Red Hen tries many strategies to get her chicks to sleep, however, only one chick falls asleep at a time.

The book will familiarise children with number words up to 6 in a descending order, allowing them to practice the backwards sequence, which is often overlooked and is trickier for children to master.

While reading the story, the adult should try to get the children to count the chicks on the page – which should always be six – and the amount that are sleeping and awake. This will familiarise the children with numbers that add up to 6. For example, there are 3 chicks awake and 3 chicks sleeping; there are 6 chicks in total, therefore 3+3=6.

The adult could also use numerals alongside the story, as the book does not show the numeral with the number word. Every time the number word is said either point out the numeral to the children to highlight the connection between the two, or have the children point to the numeral if they are familiar with the numeral and number word connection.