Picture Books for Math Instruction

MATH FOR KIDS:¹ children’s books that build a love of math

Math Picture Books — Development and Research for Early Mathematics Education²

(This is a suggested and not an exhaustive list. Nor has it been deliberately curated but is compiled here for your reference.)

Adding and Subtracting

• Quack and Count by Keith Baker
• Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
• Elevator Magic by Stuart J. Murphy
• One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre
• Albert Adds Up by Eleanor May

Counting

• Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno
• Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell
• Eric Carle’s 123 by Eric Carle
• Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert
• Zero is the Leaves on the Trees by Betsy Franco
• Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
• Hippos Go Berserk! By Sandra Boynton

Measurement and Size

• Who Eats First? by Ae-hae Yoon
• Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert
• Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Next to an Ant by Mara Rockliff
• Inch by Inch by Leo Leonni
• The Growing Story by Ruth Krauss

Patterns and Algebra

• Anno’s Magic Seeds by Mitsumasa Anno
• Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale by Lily Toy Hong
• Mr. Noisy’s Book of Patterns by Rozanne L. Williams

Shape

• The Shape of Things by Dayle Ann Dodds
• Have You Seen My Monster? by Steve Light
• Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
• The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
• Mice on Ice by Eleanor May
• Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Round is a Tortilla by Roseanne Thong
• When a Line Bends, a Shape Begins by Rhonda Growler Greene

Spatial Relations

• Albert is Not Scared by Eleanor May
• Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch by Mary Peterson
• Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres
• Where’s Spot? by Eric Hills
• The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle
• Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins
• Over, Under, and Through by Tana Hoban
• Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Taking Apart Numbers

• 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam
• Ten Friends by Bruce Goldstone

MORE PICTURE BOOKS FOR TEACHING MATH³

Number Sense – Place Value, Magnitude, Counting

• 100th Day Worries – Margery Cuyler
• Comparing Numbers – M. W. Penn
• Five Little Monkeys – Eileen Christelow
• Great Estimations – Bruce Goldstone
• Greater Estimations – Bruce Goldstone
• How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin? – Margaret McNamara
• How Much Is A Million? – David M. Schwartz
• Let’s Estimate: A Book About Estimating and Rounding Numbers – David A. Adler 
• One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale – Demi
• One Hundred Hungry Ants – Elinor J. Pinczes
• Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons – Eric Litwin
• Place Value – David A. Adler
• Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens: A Math Adventure – Cindy Neuschwander
• Splitting the Herd: A Corral of Odds and Evens – Trudy Harris
• Stay in Line – Teddy Slater
• The King’s Commissioners – Aileen Friedman
• The M&M’s Counting Book – Barbara Barbieri McGrath
• The Rain Forest Counts! – Lisa McCourt

Fractions and Percent

• Apple Fractions – Jerry Pallotta
• Eating Fractions – Bruce McMillan
• Fraction Action – Loreen Leedy
• Piece=Part=Portion: Fractions=Decimals=Percents – Scott Gifford
• Twizzlers Percentages Book – Jerry Pallotta
• Whole-y Cow! Fractions Are Fun – Taryn Souders

Operations – Addition, Subtraction

• It’s Addition – M. W. Penn
• It’s Subtraction – M. W. Penn
• Subtraction Action – Loreen Leedy
• The Action of Subtraction – Brian P. Cleary

Operations – Multiplication, Division

• 2×2=Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories – Loreen Leedy
• A Remainder of One – Elinor J. Pinczes
• Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream – Cindy Neuschwander
• Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar – Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
• Math = Fun! Multiplication and Division – Jerry Pallotta
• The Best of Times – Greg Tang
• The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book – Jerry Pallotta
• The Lion’s Share – Matthew McElligott

Patterns

• It’s a Pattern! – M. W. Penn
• Patterns at the Museum – Tracey Steffora

Geometry

• Grandfather Tang’s Story – Ann Tompert
• If You Were a Polygon – Marcie Aboff
• If You Were a Quadrilateral – Molly Blaisdell
• It’s a Shape! – M. W. Penn
• Kitten Castle – Mel Friedman and Ellen Weiss
• Math Fair Blues – Sue Kassierer
• Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry – Cindy Neuschwander
• Perfect Square – Michael Hall
• Shapes in the Kitchen – Tracey Steffora
• The Greedy Triangle – Marilyn Burns
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift – Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken

Measurement – Linear, Area, Perimeter, Coordinate Grids

• Sam’s Sneaker Squares (Area) – Nat Gabriel
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table – Cindy Neuschwander
• Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! A Mathematical Story – Marilyn Burns
• X Marks the Spot! – Lucille Recht Penner

Time

• A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child’s Book of Time – Hazen Hutchins

Money

• A Dollar, A Penny, How Much and How Many? – Brian P. Cleary
• Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday – Judith Viorst
• Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina
• Follow The Money – Loreen Leedy
• Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money – Emily Jenkins
• Once Upon A Dime – Nancy Campbell Allen
• Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun With Math and Money – Amy Axelrod
• The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble With Money – Stan and Jan Berenstain
• The Penny Pot – Lynne Avril Cravath

Data Management

• Who’s Got Spots? – Linda W. Aber

Probability

• A Very Improbable Story – Edward Einhorn
• Bad Luck Brad – Gail Herman
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett
• That’s a Possibility! A Book About What Might Happen – Bruce Goldstone

Multiple Skills

• More M&M’s Math – Barbara Barbieri McGrath
• Tyrannosaurus Math – Michelle Markel

Problem Solving

• Math Appeal – Greg Tang
• Math For All Seasons – Greg Tang
• Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving – Greg Tang
• The Grapes of Math – Greg Tang

¹Math for Kids–The Best Childrens Books. Retrieved 4 July 2020, from https://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/math-for-kids.html)

²Uscianowski, C. and Ginsburg, H.P. (2019) 40 Children’s Books That Foster a Love of Math. Development and Research in Early Math Education (DREME). https://dreme.stanford.edu/news/children-s-books-foster-love-math. Direct download from https://saskmath.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/math_picture_books_full_list.pdf.

³Beatties, E. (n.d). Mrs. Beattie’s Classroom. Retrieved 4 July 2020, from https://www.mrsbeattiesclassroom.com/2018/01/best-picture-books-for-teaching-math.html/ (Permission Granted)