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Math

"The universe is a grand book, written in the language of mathematics."

 

Galileo Galilei

Why read books about math?

What? Picture books and chapter books about math? Absolutely. Just like fairy tales and folk tales fire up the imagination, stories about math engage the imagination and help place mathematical knowledge in context. They also provide a wonderful way to interest non-math leaning kids in math. Many kids who don't naturally gravitate towards numbers and calculations happily learn about and are much more interested in stories and concepts presented in "regular books". Some of these books are older, but worth it if you can find them!

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Pick at least one to read each week, and read the picture books as well as the chapter books, even if your children are older! Each of these picture books contains a well-told story as well as solid graphics or art.

Elementary level

  • Counting

    • There Were Ten in the Bed by Pam Adams​

    • What Comes in 2's, 3's, & 4's? by Suzanne Aker

    • Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

    • Anno's Counting House by Mitsumasa Anno

    • When One Cat Woke Up by Judy Astley

    • One Cow Moo Moo! by David Bennett

    • Count-a-saurus by Nancy Blumenthal

    • How Many Bugs in a Box? by David A. Carter

    • One Magic Box by Roger and Mariko Chouinard

    • Five LIttle Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow

    • Numbers: How Do You Say It? (Spanish, French, English, German) by Meredith Dunham

    • Deep Down Underground by Olivier Dunrea

    • How Many Feet in the Bed? by Diane Johnston Hamm

    • Count Your Way Through Mexico (Spanish counting book) by Jim Haskins

    • Count Your Way Through China (Chinese counting book) by Jim Haskins

    • 10 Little Hot Dogs by John Himmelman

    • Counting Kids by Annie Kubler

    • 101 Dalmatians - A Counting Book by Fran Manushkin

    • In My Garden by Ron Maris

    • The Cheerios Counting Book by Will and Barbara McGrath

    • One, Two, One Pair! by Bruce McMillan

    • Six Brave Explorers by Kees Moerbeek and Carla Dijs

    • One Gorilla by Atsuko Morozumi

    • The Twelve Days of Summer by Elizabeth O'Donnell

    • One Hungry Monster by Susan Hayboer O'Keefe

    • Eggs for Tea by Jan Pienkowski

    • How Many? From 0 to 20 by Fiona Pragoff

    • Ten Big Babies by Robert Priest

    • Little 1 by Ann and Paul Rand

    • The World from My Window by Sheila White Samton

    • How Much is A Million? by David M. Schwartz

    • The Right Number of Elephants by Jeff Sheppard

    • Going Up! by Peter Sis

    • The Wildlife 1-2-3: A Nature Counting Book by Jan Thornhill

    • Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh

    • Animal Counting by A.J. Wood

    • One Panda: An Animal Counting Book by Betty Youngs

    • A Year of Beasts by Ashley Wolff

    • A Year of Birds by Ashley Wolff

  • Fractions​​

    • Eating Fractions by Bruce McMillan

  • Geometry​

    • Turn About, Think About, Look About Book by Beau Gardiner​

    • Beginning to Learn About Shapes by Richard Allington

    • Color Zoo by Louis Ehlert

    • I Can Read Signs by Tana Hoban

    • Squares are Not So Bad by Violet Salazar

    • Grandfather Tang's Story: A Tale Told with Tangrams by Ann Tompert

  •  Measurement

  • Money​

  • Number Operations​

    • Amelie's Nine Lives by Lorna Balian​

    • Count the Animals 1, 2, 3 by Demi

    • Five Silly Fisherman by Roberta Edwards

    • Phoebe and the Hot Water Bottles by Terry Furchgott

    • A Bag Full of Pups by Dick Gagkenbuck

    • Lucy and Tom's 1, 2, 3 by Shirley Hughes

    • Sea Squares by Joy N. Hulme

    • Ten Little Friends by Hideo Kiso

    • Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo Lesieg

    • My Five Book by Jane Belk Moncure

    • One Duck, Another Duck by Charlotte Pomerantz

    • Moon to Sun: An Adding Book by Sheila White Samton

  • Pattern​​

    • Another, Another, Another, and More by Marion Walters

  • History

Upper Elementary and Middle levels

  • By Cindy Neuschwander

    • Sir Cumference Math Adventure series​​

      • Sir Cumference and the First Round Table

      • Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

      • Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland

      • Sir Cumference and the Sward in the Cone

      • Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter

    • Alice in Pastaland by Alexandra Wright​
    • Beanstalk: The Measure of a Giant by Ann McCallum Staats
    • Cut Down to Size at High Noon by Scott E. Sundby
    • Equal Shmequal by Virginia L. Kroll
    • Multiplying Menace: the Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pan Calvert
    • The Multiplying Menace Divides by Pam Calvert
    • Once Upon a Dime by Nancy Kelly Allen
    • A Place for Zero by Angeline Sparagna Lopresti
    • Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere: A Fibonacci Tale by Ann McCallum Staats
    • Sold!: A Mathematics Adventure by Bryn Barnard
    • A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn
    • What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? by Julie Ellis
    • Zachary Zormer: Shape Transformer by Joanne Anderson Reisberg​
    • The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang​​

  • By Luetta Reimer and Wilbert Reimer

    • Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, vol 1

    • Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, vol 2​

  • The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan​

Upper level

  • By Cindy Neuschwander

    • Sir Cumference Math Adventure series​​

      • Sir Cumference and the First Round Table

      • Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

      • Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland

      • Sir Cumference and the Sward in the Cone

      • Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter​​

  • By Luetta Reimer and Wilbert Reimer

    • Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, vol 1

    • Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, vol 2​

  • The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan​

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