Best Math Books for Kids (part 1)

The Everything Book [Paperback] Count on us to help your little ones start to become math-ready. By Denise Fleming Holt; Ages 2 and up This is a delicious compendium of early childhood concepts. Fleming creates the color saturated art by dying cotton fibers and painting with squeeze bottles. The thick pages are perfect for little hands and even a child who can't articulate the word triangle can begin identifying and pointing to shapes. As we count the eggs on the page from 1 to 4 they begin to crack and five crocodiles climb out of five broken shells. If you fall in love with this one, look for Mama Cat Has Three Kittens and Count!

Give Me Half! (MathStart 2) [Paperback] by Stuart Murphy, illustrated by G. Brian Karas; Ages 5 and up A sister and brother are having lunch. The brother has a whole pizza and only offers the sister a slice. The sister protests that it isn't enough. An adult offstage insists that that the boy cut it in two even pieces--half. Thus begins, in short rhyming sentences the struggle to halve juice, cookies, and cupcakes. A food fight ensues and each must clean up half the mess. After reading this story families can practice the words--half, whole, share, and divide equally with an apple or orange.

If You Were an Even Number (Math Fun) [Paperback] by Marcie Aboff, illustrated by Sarah Dillard; Ages 5 and up Rudimentary geometry is on display as we explore what makes a triangle. If you were a triangle you would have three straight sides and three corners. Many concepts in this book are for older children, like what it means to be a polygon but, grown-ups and children can enjoy the sing-song language and take a picture walk through the pages spotting the triangles. Did you see the ice cream cone, the side of pyramid and the yield sign, or the slice of watermelon? Are there any triangle shapes in your house?

by Pat Brisson; illustrated by Bob Barner; Ages 3 and up Benny McBride had five new pennies. What should he buy? We follow Benny as he travels his neighborhood trading his pennies for gifts for his family. In rhyming language, we count down as he spends the money and returns home with an armful of presents. The cut-paper collage and simple subtraction concept are perfect for any preschooler. Parents can have five pennies reading and five objects--a cookie, a flower, a book, a doll, etc. to trade for them to reinforce this math concept.

by Lois Ehlert; Ages 3 and up "Heads and ears, beaks and snouts/That's what animals are all about." Geometric shapes can be identified in the boldly colored, graphic exploration of animals that are made out of shapes. Ask children to identify the circles, squares and rectangles that make up the animal parts. Spend some time on each page and ask the child to think about what makes a shape. How do we know it's a triangle? Is a triangle still a triangle upside down? If you like this one, check out Color Farm.

retold by Ruby Dee; illustrated by Susan Meddaugh; Ages 5 and up In this retelling of a traditional African tale, the King Leopard is looking for a husband for his daughter who would also be the successor to his throne. He challenges all the animals to throw a spear into the air and count to ten before it lands. We would suspect that the winner would be one of bragging strong animals like the elephant or the rhinoceros. The task proves to be impossible if one is counting straight from one to ten but the clever winner finds a faster way.

by Donald Crews, Ages 3 and up What can you do with ten black dots? As we count from 1 to 10 we can spot that one dot can make a sun or a moon. Two black dots can be the eyes of a fox or the holes in keys. The consistent representation of the black dots aids in the counting of five buttons. We can imagine that six dots are new marbles but can also be old marbles. Perhaps children will recognize the wheels on the freight train. Crews presents simple circles to aid in one of the first number concepts to be mastered by young children.

My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes; Ages 5 and up This cumulative rhyming counting book is not for the faint of heart. It begins, "My little sister ate one hare/we thought she'd throw up then and there/but she didn't./My little sister ate two snakes/She ate two snakes for heaven's sakes/She ate two snakes, she ate one hare/we thought she'd throw up then and there/ but she didn't. Grossman's wacky rhymes pile absurdity on absurdity as we count along with the cartoonish pictures until the silly yet logically explosive ending.

Shapes, Shapes, Shapes by Tana Hoban; Ages 4 and up Shapes are all around us: in our lunchboxes, on buildings, on our shoes, and even in the foods that we eat. They are made up of triangles, squares, rectangles, circles, parallelograms, and even trapezoids, and they are all highlighted in Tana Hoban's delightfully informative photo book. Kids experience the world around them through these gently textured black and white and colored photos that document our shapely planet and life. No words can describe this amazing experience. This book just may "shape" your kids' world.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle; Age 2 and up It is hard to believe that that this granddaddy of all the concept books is over 40 years old. It is still one of the best counting books on the shelves. Let me refresh your memory. The painted-paper collage caterpillar eats his way through one apple on Monday but he was still hungry. Then Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry, then Wednesday, three plums, and we can predict what comes next. He also devours a piece of cake and a few other unexpected treats.

by Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Ralph Masiello; Ages 4 and up Count your way into a world full of butterflies, millipedes, and lots more icky bugs that creep and crawl in your garden. While learning interesting facts about bugs that fly, ones that taste with their feet, and even ones that have hundreds of legs, your child will learn how to count using this gorgeous, informative, and clever book. You can count on your kids to tell you all about bugs.

Each Orange Has 8 Slices by Paul Giganti, illustrated by Donald Crews; Ages 4 and up This book is not only visually stimulating but it also stimulates thinking. Kids will learn and enhance their mathematical skills by counting, adding, subtracting, and even multiplying their way to knowing everything about math. Composed of simple mathematical problems in the forms of sentences, accompanied by amazing real-life photographs, your child will have fun while learning. Any way you slice it, this book adds up for you and your little math learner.

Pattern (Math Counts) by Henry Arthur Pluckrose; Ages 4 and up Whether patterns are in the form of shapes on a sweater or when used to identify numbers in a mathematical problem, patterns are everywhere. Math doesn't have to always include adding and subtracting, it also includes shapes and patterns. From rooftops to wallpaper to petals of a flower to the border of a carpet, your child will learn to use an important mathematical concept. Kids just might pattern themselves after the never-ending variety of patterns they see everywhere.

When a Line Bends ... A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene; illustrated James Kaczman by Ages 4 and up In this animated read-aloud, children will be introduced to the world of shapes, making learning loads of fun! With picture clues and rhymes, children will be able to identify shapes like triangles, rectangles, squares, circles, and even stars. Whether it is a carpet shaped like a rectangle or a boat shaped like a triangle, your children will identify shapes everywhere they go and tell you what they are!

Is It Larger? Is It Smaller? by Tana Hoban; Ages 4 and up Everything comes in different shapes and sizes. The leaves that fall from trees during the fall are of different shapes and sizes; umbrellas come in different shapes and sizes; and even animals come in every different shape and size that the mind can imagine. In this beautifully crafted book with eye-catching photographs, your child will learn about the infinite diversity that shapes our world.

Source: Lisa Von Drasek, nickjr dot co
Lisa Von Drasek is the Children's Librarian of the Bank Street College of Education. She teaches pre-K through 8th grade as well as children's literature to graduate students. Lisa has served on The New York Times Best Illustrated Jury, the Newbery Committee, American Library Association's Notable Children's Books, and the Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee.