The whole book is shaped like a rubber duck, sunny yellow from its orange beak to its tail, and that is the first thing a toddler reaches for. Open it and the 10 little rubber ducks set off downstream on a lovely spring day, while little ones count them along, one number at a time.

Eric Carle fills the riverbank with his signature bright collage pictures: hatching chicks, a hopping bunny and blossoming flowers, all the small wonders of spring. It comes from the World of Eric Carle, the same unmistakable hand behind The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the duck shape is just the right size for little hands to hold.

A 22 page shaped board book for babies through age 4, it is an easy Easter basket gift and a first counting book that gets pulled off the shelf again and again.