I’m sure I have mentioned here before how we love Something Special. I think it’s brilliant to have a show so readily available on TV where we can learn more signs, and that has exposed more people to using Makaton outside of the Special Needs community. I also think it’s very positive to normalise Special Needs on children’s TV. It’s good for Mr T to see children like himself on TV, and hopefully when he starts school and people see him sometimes communicating in sign they might remember a bit about what they have seen before rather than just thinking that it’s “weird.”

Mr T loves the character of Mr Tumble and finds him hilarious. The other boys like him too but he is Mr T’s favourite.

Recently we were sent Mr Tumble’s Big Book of Counting for review and naturally it was a big success with Mr T and all of the boys.

mr tumble's big book of countingMr Tumble’s Big Book of Counting deals with the numbers 1-5 in a fun and tactile way.

Every page introduces one number and has a rhyme. There are arrows to show the child how to trace the number, and Mr T was really interested in doing this.

mr tumble's big book of counting

Every page also has Justin in the corner showing the sign for each number, which I think is great! The number is also depicted in either spots or stars on each page so that the child can count them up and match it to the number

mr tumble's big book of counting

There is a large flap on each page, so after reading the start of the rhyme you open it and find more Tumble characters to finish off the rhyme

mr tumble's big book of counting

You can see the flap open above on the last page. All of them were sharing the book together! Mr Z loves numbers and he is always keen to teach Mr T his numbers, so this was a good one for them to work on together. Although Mr Z would be too old for the book himself, he likes it in the context of him getting to be the teacher.

mr tumble's big book of counting

It is very sweet to see him teaching Mr T and encouraging him!

The book would be ideal for children of about 1-3 years, and I think it may normally be too young for a child of 4 but as Mr T does have special needs it’s at the perfect level for him. He has only recently learned his numbers and now he can mostly recognise 1-5 so the book is ideal for him to reinforce that.

mr tumble's big book of counting

It is also great for Mr R who is 2 years old. He loves brightly coloured books. Sitting and looking through books is one of his favourite things to do, and he is always excited by seeing TV characters which he recognises, like Mr Tumble.

mr tumble's big book of counting

Mr Tumble’s Big Book of Counting is published by Egmont and can be purchased from Amazon or other good book stores.

Would we recommend it? It’s a yes from Mr T!

signing yes makaton sign for yes(He’s signing “Yes” – Hopefully if you watch Something Special you can recognise the sign! )