23 Counting Books Worth Reading to Kids

Count with me the number of super fun counting books for kids that are available to read to young children. The number is great! From themed counting book lists to books about big numbers, we’ve got you covered. Little ones will be counting in no time. Let’s start counting and reading with these math books.

Counting Books for Children

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Counting Books for Toddlers

Board books work really well for toddlers and there are plenty of them to introduce basic counting and number recognition.

Chomp Goes to the Alligator by Matthew Van Fleet is one of my more recent favorites. It’s an interactive counting book that lets the kids chomp the alligator’s mouth.

Once a Bear by Ron Atlas is a counting adventure as the bears take a seat one by one. This book is perfect for counting from left to right. You can even extend the math and count the remaining chairs on each page. And, the number words and numbers are displayed across each page spread.

For even more counting board books, check out our whole list.—>Counting Books for Toddlers

Counting Books for Preschoolers and Up

Counting Up to 10

Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke is a beautifully illustrated story about a baby and mama who visit a Nigerian market for goods. Count up to six in this story. Then go even deeper into the book in our Book Dive: Baby Goes to Market.

Bird Watchby Christie Matheson invites students to go bird watching right inside the book. Can you spot seven wrens singing amongst the raindrops and four doves cooing? Countdown from 10 to 1.

One is a Pinata by Roseanne Greenfield Thong is a fiesta of numbers from tres burbujas to six kinds of salsa, children will love to count from 1 to 10 in Spanish and English.

Build a Burrito: A Counting Book in English and Spanish by Denise Vega and is full of tasty ingredients that make up a delicious burrito.

How to Two by David Soman isn’t just a counting book. It’s a story of having fun with friends on the playground. This one works equally well as a math book as it does a book about friendship.

The Big Storm by Nancy Tafuri is a counting tale of animals running for cover in a big storm. They all huddle inside a cave until the storm passes. But what is all the rumbling come from now? Two sleeping bears …so the countdown ensues as the animals quickly leave the cave and discover a rainbow.

The following counting books work especially well for a whole group read-aloud experience.

Preschoolers will love the suspense as the hungry fox looks for a chicken dinner. But, when the hens flock together that sly fox might be in for a surprise in One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read. Count from 1 to 10 in this book that starts with one and ends with one. You can not only work on counting but also body parts, food chain, vocabulary, and the power of illustrations to enhance the text. There are so many possibilities.

Determined chickens are about to break out of the pen. Count along as they do so in Counting Chickens by Cate Berry. But, just as soon as they break, they have to get back home for another kind of break. This is a fun one for counting to ten and back down again. You can also use it for rhyming and talking about the multiple meanings of “break.” Makes a perfect circle time read-aloud pick.

Pretty Kitty by Karen Beaumont is the story of a lonely man who discovers lots of kitties on his doorstep. One by one they warm his heart.

Let the wild rhyming and counting of goats commence in Let’s Count Goats! by Mem Fox.

Jan Thomas is one of my favorite writers for super silly and highly engaging books for preschoolers. Is That Wise, Pig? will have the kids laughing and counting up to ten.

Five Busy Beavers by Stella Partheniou Grasso is a counting story from 5 to 1 and is full of rhyme. Plus, children will learn some facts about beavers too.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett is a silly tale of counting monkeys on each page as they come and go.

A Unicorn on a Unicycle by Lyna Graham-Barber gets you ready for a 1 to 10 counting jamboree as you count the wheels on different modes of transportation from unicycles to skateboards. Playful, fun, and full of early math learning!

Counting Past 10

In Grandma’s Tiny House by JaNay Brown-Wood we discover that even though Grandma’s house is tiny, it can hold a whole lot of love. Children will count all the love (and up to 15) in this book.

100 Bugs: A Counting Book by Kate Narita is full of different ways to count to ten through adding such as (8+2 and 2+8) using bugs as counting objects. Go all the way to 100.

Counting CreaturesCounting Creatures has animals and babies, counting practice to 10 and then by 5s up to 25, fold-out pages, cleverly cut pages, and oh so much more. The illustrations by Sharon King-Chai make you want to have each spread as a mural on your walls. And, then we have text by Julia Donaldson. Master storyteller! I love this one!

There are even more counting books on our The Big List of Preschool Math Books.

Exploring Bigger Numbers and Skip Counting

Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes by Kimberly and James Dean encourages us to count down by twos from ten as the cupcakes start to disappear.

Build, build, build with bricks and count along the way in Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus.

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental is about a family that keeps getting mysterious deliveries of penguins to their front door. With so many penguins in the house, they have to be creative about housing them all. This book also provides lots of math practice from counting to multiplication.

Explore how counting can keep going and going in How Much is a Million? by David M Schwartz.

How Big is a Million? by Anna Milbourne features a penguin exploring the concept of a million. Extend the book and have children make their own snowball counting book.—>Number Book Directions