Math Books

Reading aloud is amazing.  But, when you incorporate other subjects into your reading, you amp up that read-aloud experience.  Today, we have some of the best math books for kids available to help teach different math concepts.  Check out these books for kids.

Why are pictures books so wonderful for teaching math concepts?

1. They help children visualize concepts and connect the ideas to stories.
2. They encourage students to act out the story during play which reinforces new skills.
3. They provide extra opportunities to interact with new concepts you are covering with students.
4. They launch further inquiry and conversation about the topic.

Below you will find some amazing picture books that most importantly are great stories with the added bonus they cover mathematical concepts.

Great picture books work for children of many ages.  In fact, you are never too old for a picture book.  I’ve noted which books work especially well for our youngest kiddos as well as those that make great whole group read-alouds.

Fun Math Books for Kids

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1484717791″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]7 Ate 9: The Untold Story[/easyazon_link] by Tara Lazar is a story starring the numbers as the characters.  We all know that 7 ate 9 so 6 is worried.  Can it all be sorted out?

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1328904083″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Fix That Clock[/easyazon_link] by Kurt Cyrus is an interesting story about repairing a clock tower and all the math that goes into and around the repair.  From counting, to measuring, to shapes there is a little math sprinkled throughout.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0375858091″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]How High Can a Dinosaur Count? And Other Math Mysteries[/easyazon_link] by Valorie Fisher is full of math stories that require the reader/listener to use the illustrations to help solve the math problems.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0735265755″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Count on me[/easyazon_link] by Miguel Tanco is about following your passion even when your passion is all things math. The story also encourages us to look everywhere for math in the world.

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Add, sort, count, and more in [easyazon_link identifier=”1684460794″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Bears Make the Best Math Buddies[/easyazon_link] by Carmen Oliver.  A young girl and her bear friend explore friendship and lots of math in this sweet book.  Don’t miss Bear’s sweater on the cover.  It’s full of patterns.

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Balance, count, estimate and more in [easyazon_link identifier=”0763678279″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Crash! Boom! A Math Tale[/easyazon_link] by Robie H. Harris.  Elephant has a box of blocks and is ready to build.  This book begs to be placed in the block area.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1536200387″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Absolutely One Thing: Featuring Charlie and Lola[/easyazon_link] by Lauren Child celebrates numbers in an entertaining story. Plus, there is lots of math vocabulary featured in this tale about two siblings trying to decide on one thing to share from the store.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1250035856″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late[/easyazon_link] by Laura Overdeck will truly have children staying up late for one more math theme story.  My kids wanted more and more. I love that this a book that you can come back to over and over again.

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Speaking of fun that you can come back to time and time again, check out the activity book,  [easyazon_link identifier=”1631597698″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Math Art and Drawing Games for Kids: 40+ Fun Art Projects to Build Amazing Math Skills[/easyazon_link] by my #PictureBookoftheDay teammate, Karyn Tripp.  There are oodles of fun learning projects inside.

What is Math? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich highlights all the ways that math appears in our lives from a calendar to a clock to a lemonade stand.  Plus (see what I did there), there is lots of math to spot in the illustrations.

Imagine Counting All the Stars by Raewyn Caisley is the story of a child who loves all things math.  Maddie wishes that she could find a friend who loves math as much as she does.  Will her math loving friend wish come true?

Books About Numbers and Operations

Counting

There are so many fun books about counting that are also full of teaching opportunities.  Check out these lists.

Big List of Counting Books for Children

Counting Books for Toddlers

Counting in the Garden Books

Favorite Halloween Books That Feature Counting

Adding and Subtracting

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The chicks are out on the playground playing a little basketball.  And they are doing a little adding in [easyazon_link identifier=”162979807X” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Arithmechicks Add Up[/easyazon_link] by Ann Marie Stephens.

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Kids will have a blast adding in [easyazon_link identifier=”1943147620″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Pigeon Math[/easyazon_link] by Asia Citro. The pigeons are on the wire, but they never stay for long constantly flying to and from creating all sorts of wild addition stories.  We even have printable story mats to go with the book.—>Pigeon Math Book Activity

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Counting and some basic adding is what you’ll get in the interactive book, [easyazon_link identifier=”0545883792″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Groovy Joe Dance Party Countdown[/easyazon_link] by Eric Litwin.  This is a great whole group read-aloud because the kids can join in the repetitive singing parts.

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Count, add, and subtract in the hilarious book by Jonathan Fenske. In [easyazon_link identifier=”0515159131″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]We Need More Nuts[/easyazon_link], two squirrels find lots of nuts and keep stuffing them in their mouths.  It is pure silly number-nut fun.

What fact combinations equal ten?  Find out in Let’s Add Up! by Victoria Allenby.

Let’s start at 100 and work our way down to zero and then back up to 100 again with 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli  by David LaRochelle.  Lots of subtracting going on in this tale of dragons that group by group leave the crowd.  You could use this one for multi-step mental math or it’s a fun one to write on the board and work through together.

Division

Luna’s Yum Yum Dim Sum by Natasha Yim and illustrated by Violet Kim is part of the Storytelling Math series.

It’s Luna’s birthday and she is celebrating at a Chinese dim sum restaurant. Luna and her brothers are going to share six pork buns, but one falls on the floor. How will they divide the meal evenly now?

The Reindeer Remainders by Katey Howes takes us to the forest where there just always seems to be one remain-DEER. Can these 13 remainder figure out their presentation for the showcase so that do reindeer feels left out?  Sure they can!  And, in the process, they figure out the best presentation about remainders and prime numbers to present.

Books About Geometry and Spatial Sense

We have a big list of books all about shapes.—>See the Books About Shapes Booklist

Books About Measurement

Books About Weight

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1580898491″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]So Light, So Heavy[/easyazon_link] by Susanne Strasser is a board book that works well with preschoolers to explore weight and balance.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1910716111″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]How Much Does a Ladybug Weigh?[/easyazon_link] by Alison Limentani talks about the weights of different animals compared to other animals.  Learn about comparisons by weight while enjoying lots of animals.

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Children will understand the definition of heavy after enjoying [easyazon_link identifier=”069811373X” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Who Sank the Boat?[/easyazon_link] by Pamela Allen.  The animals keep piling in the boat until one final animal sinks the boat.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1442407573″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Balancing Act[/easyazon_link] by Ellen Stoll Walsh uses a seesaw to talk about weight as different animals want a turn on the playground favorite.

Books About Length

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0823441741″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Ants Rule: The Long and Short of It[/easyazon_link] by Bob Barner will have kids measuring and recording their data in graphic form.  This book works well for reading one-on-one or in a small group.

Books About Time

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There is learning to tell time and then there is understanding the length of time.  Five minutes can seem like a long time in some situations like waiting for mom to get off the phone and then other times it can seem to pass so quickly like when you are playing your favorite game.  Explore occasions when five minutes feels like forever and other times goes by way too quick in [easyazon_link identifier=”052551631X” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Five Minutes: (That’s a Lot of Time) (No, It’s Not) (Yes, It Is)[/easyazon_link] by Audrey Vernick.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0062383027″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Monkey Time[/easyazon_link] by Michael Hall also explores the concept of times specifically the 60 minutes that make up an hour.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0823440923″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Telling Time[/easyazon_link] by David A. Adler explores all the vocabulary around time from AM to PM to seconds, minutes, and hours.  And, it’s all done with a space theme context.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1883672996″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]P. Bear’s New Year’s Party[/easyazon_link] by Paul Owen Lewis is a fun telling time book using the arrival of the guests to the New Year’s party arrive.

Work your way from 1 o’clock to 12 o’clock in Croc O’Clock by Huw Lewis and Ben Sanders as you sing this book to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

All in a Day by Chihiro Takeuchi allows us to peer in the windows to see what is happening at different times of the day.

Time isn’t just about the hours in the day.  It’s the days in the year and this next book is a read-aloud treat. 365 How to Count a Year by Miranda Paul and Julien Chung slices and dices the year into months, weeks, days, minutes, seconds and more!

Books About Patterns and Algebraic Thinking

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0062741233″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Pitter Pattern[/easyazon_link] by Joyce Hesselberth shows us that patterns are everywhere.  Travel through each day of the week and look for patterns on each page.  A great read-aloud pick for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

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Look at the patterns and match the socks in [easyazon_link identifier=”0064467031″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]A Pair of Socks[/easyazon_link] by Stuart J. Murphy.  Clean out the sock drawer and let the children make matches, create patterns, and even create their own word problems.

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Discover and analyze the patterns of Native American blankets in [easyazon_link identifier=”0811821323″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Ten Little Rabbits[/easyazon_link] by Virginia Grossman.  You can also use this title for counting. Information about five Native American tribes is also included in the back matter of the book.

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Even a quilter into the classroom to show students different patterns after reading [easyazon_link identifier=”0064434648″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet[/easyazon_link] by Ann Whitford Paul.

Shapes & Patterns in Nature by Koncná is a beautiful look at things found in nature that have beautiful shapes and patterns. Children will want to really study the gorgeous illustrations.

Books Displaying and Analyzing Data

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0140554955″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]The Button Box[/easyazon_link] by Margarette S. Reid may be an older title, but it works really well for discussing sorting and of course, begs for a big basket of buttons to be placed in front of students for lots of sorting to take place.

One of my favorite ways to graph is to let students take a poll and ask readers which book they liked more.  Then, graph the results.  You can do “Favorite Book of Room ___” or “Favorite Eric Carle Book.”

Oh my goodness, I adore the illustrations in this book! Friends Beyond Measure by Lalena Fisher is a story told through infographics. I’m talking Venn diagrams, maps, pictograms, charts…you name it! Even the copyright page and dedication page use some type of infographic. Yes, you can 100% use this for math class but it’s also a story of friendship and moving. There is so much to love about this book.

Dirt and Bugsy Beetle Mania is early reader book by Mean Litwin.  These two friend bug catchers love collecting but they just aren’t sure how to sort them.  Should they sort by size or color?

Picture Books About Mathematicians for Children

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[easyazon_link identifier=”0316278203″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain[/easyazon_link] by Cheryl Bardoe is the story of Sophie Germain. Sophie lived at a time when it was not socially acceptable for women to study math.  But, she didn’t let that stop her.  She is credited with laying the groundwork for modern architecture.

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[easyazon_link identifier=”1943147426″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]The Girl With A Mind For Math: The Story of Raye Montague[/easyazon_link] by Julia Finley Mosca is from the Amazing Scientists series by Innovation Press.  They are fantastic.  In this story we meet Raye Montague.  She too faced sexism and inequality, but she persevered and became a pioneer in shape design.

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One of the amazing women who worked for NASA during the Space Race was Katherine Johnson.  Read about her in [easyazon_link identifier=”1250137527″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13[/easyazon_link] by Helaine Becker.  Also, check out [easyazon_link identifier=”1534404759″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Counting the Stars[/easyazon_link] by Lesa Cline-Ransome which another story about Katherine Johnson.

More Amazing Math Books For Preschoolers

If you have a preschooler in your life, you’ll want to see our whole booklist dedicated to preschool math skills.—>See the Preschool Math Books Here

Printable Book List of Math Books

Grab a printable list of the books above.  Use it to take to the library or tuck in your lesson plan book.

Enjoy using these math books with the children to develop a love of reading and math.