Counting Kisses
Counting Kisses by Karen Katz takes about 1 minute to read aloud (90 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 0-3.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 1 minute
- Words
- 90our estimate, not a published count
- Sentences a page
- 1
- Re-read tolerance
- 4/5survives a fortnight on repeat
- Vocabulary
- 2/5everyday words
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The useful verdict
Why Counting Kisses works
It counts down from ten kisses on the toes to one on the sleepy head, so the book physically gets quieter as it goes and ends with the baby asleep - a countdown you deliver on the actual child while you read it.
Before you buy it
Only works if you give the kisses. Read hands-off it is a plain numbers book.
Themes: counting down, kisses, bedtime, families.
Same shape, new story
Books like Counting Kisses
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
Ten, Nine, Eightunder a minute · 4/5 re-read
Time for Bedabout 1 minute · 4/5 re-read
Goodnight Moonabout 1 minute · 5/5 re-read
The Going-to-Bed Bookabout 1 minute · 5/5 re-read
Toes, Ears, & Nose!under a minute · 4/5 re-read
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bedabout 2 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Whose Toes Are Those?under a minute · 4/5 re-read
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about Counting Kisses
- How long does it take to read Counting Kisses aloud?
- About 1 minute at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 90. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is Counting Kisses actually for?
- Ages 0-3 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 2 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does Counting Kisses survive being read on repeat?
- Yes. It survives a fortnight of nightly repeats, which is the real test.
- Is Counting Kisses a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it has a refrain a child can join in with. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.