Norwegian / Norway
Alle sammen teller
(Everyone counts)
Roskifte, Kristin
(text/illus.)
Kolbotn: Magikon Forlag, 2018. – 60 p.
ISBN 978-82-92863-80-0
Number | Imagination | Everyday life | Wimmelbook | Picture book
Reading age: 3+
White Ravens issue: 2019
This brilliant book can be enjoyed for hours on end without becoming bored. It is easy to lose oneself in and between the pages, diving into each picture and leafing back and forth between them. “Alle sammen teller” presents number sequences, starting with one-number steps, then moving to bigger steps. As more and more characters populate the scenes, the book evolves into a teeming wimmelbook. Stories develop around the characters, stories recounted in a few sentences by a narrator who seems to know much yet reveal little. Sometimes the narrator’s statements refer to past events, sometimes to future events, and sometimes they tell of something that’s not necessarily visible: “One hundred and thirty-five people at an airport. Nineteen are homesick”. To whom could this apply? Is it possible to visually detect? Or not? The texts extend the momentary snapshots and inspire one to study them closely, as well as to spin further stories from them.