Books About Math

Make math fun for kids right away and they are more likely to enjoy it throughout school, even when it gets complicated and for many kids a little ( or a lot ) frustrating. These books are all fun math books that make numbers cool.

On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets by Michael Dahl was a great find, my son loved counting down from 12-1 with the bright illustrations , simple text and hidden numbers on each page. Something that seems simple but was really awesome was that each page had the number written as a word, shown as a digit and as dots to count. You can take the time to count each dot, read the word or simply recognize the digit!

Monster Math by Anne Miranda is a math lesson turned into a fun and entertaining storybook. You can simply read the book or you can have your little mathematician help you guess how many new monsters arrive and leave on each page. The illustrations are adorable and even if the math skills are above your toddler or preschoolers heads they will still enjoy the book.

1+1=5: and Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochelle was sent to me by the publisher a few months back. I waited to review it because the concept was a little over my son’s head until recently. The book as you might guess by the title is not about adding the obvious but rather the less obvious numbers in an illustration. Do not read this book with your child until they understand addition, counting and won’t get confused. That said when they have that down this book is genius! I say that because it forces them to look at all different numbers of things to figure out what the author is counting.  Readers see the equation first and the objects they are counting are usually hidden so you will have to turn the page to figure it out. Flip the page and it’s more obvious , for example 1+1 = 100 and the picture includes a pumpkin and watermelon. Flip the page and you see they are cut open with many seeds in full view. It’s tricky but if you have a child interested in math or mysteries grab it and have a look.

First Numbers (Usborne First Numbers) by Jo Litchfield and Felicity Brooks is a wonderful book for kids that can’t get enough math but it’s also great for parents because it covers all areas of the subject. SO often as parents we want to enrich our children’s learning but aren’t fully aware of the full scope of the subjects. This book is a great guide covering the basics from counting, addition, subtraction and multiplication but also sorting, matching, and basic fractions.  My son likes this book and some of it is well past his ability but much of it is at that perfect place where he get’s it with just a little help. This book will be a staple in our book shelf for a few years for sure!

How Much, How Many, How Far, How Heavy, How Long, How Tall Is 1000? by Helen Nolan has been sitting patiently on my shelf waiting for my son to be ready to read it. I used this in a math unit when I was a student teacher and absolutely love this book. The whole concept of this book is to explain the concept of 1000. We often teach our kids to count to 100 but don’t pay the same attention to getting them from 100-1000. This book takes it to the next step and demystifies the huge number 1000. It’s interesting, it uses examples kids can relate too and it gives many scenarios so those cogs turning in your child’s head has lots of chances to catch! I read it to my son for the first time yesterday and I loved being there for those moments when I know he just got it!