The Counting Sheep by Natashia Curtin

Title: The Counting Sheep

Author: Natashia Curtin

Genre: Humour

Publisher: Wombat Books

Published: 1^st March 2026

Format:

Pages:

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: There once were four friends who loved playing music together.

But every time they began to play, something strange happened …

What if every time your band played music everyone fell fast asleep? This hilarious and witty tale follows four sheepy friends as they follow their dreams and become the greatest baaaand in all the laaaand.

The Counting Sheep is written and illustrated by Natashia Curtin, whose books include the CBCA 2025 notable book Just Like You, Vernon the Penguin and the Mini and Milo series (written by Venita Dimos).

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Have you ever struggled to get to sleep at night, and tried counting sheep? Well, what would you do if those sheep were in a band? Would their singing put you to sleep, or would you dance around in the aisles to the music?

When four woolly friends – Curly, Barney, Betty and Bo – start a band on their farm and find out they’re good, they head off on the road to perform for all the other animals in the land. Except the animals coming are all falling asleep at the concerts! It might be a good thing though, but it takes time for their idea to take off. And when it does, well, it works very well.

In this new picture book from Natashia Curtin, a band of sheep head out to share their music with the world, but it has strange results. Everyone coming falls asleep, but they’re not happy about it. The band are trying to find ways to change their music…yet is their ability to send their audience to sleep exactly what some of the animals need?

This is such a fun book, because it cleverly plays on the well-known band The Counting Crows and the idea that to fall asleep at night, people count sheep. Combining music and counting sheep is a lot of fun, as it beings things together for a laugh and pure entertainment joy. It’s the kind of book that works on many levels for all audiences, for the adult and the child.

Everyone will see something different and get something different out of this book. I have found that this can be the case with many children’s books, because they are layered and designed for reading together, for adults and children to read together either in families or class settings. It is sure to be lots of fun for readers of all ages too.