Preschool Childrens Math Books
First Picture Math. I love sitting down with my girls to read a good book! One of my favorite childrens math books is the First Picture Book by Jo Litchfield! This darling board book is not only sturdy and durable for babies and toddlers, but can also serve as a young child’s math reference book.
I personally love this book for the way the clay people make the pictures so inviting. They just pop out of the page to hold my girl’s attention.
The book also holds your child’s attention by asking them questions. For example, look at the cover of the book. It starts right off giving your child a problem to solve. ….Oh no, the little boy in the middle, with the yellow hair, is covering his number. What number is he holding?
Besides teaching basic counting and number identification, the book takes math to the next level by asking your child story problems. As you can see in the sample page below, they ask your child “Which basket has the most fruit in it?” Again, notice the text is repetitive for a child who is learning to read. How fun! We are teaching our children both math and reading!
Another one of my favorite types of books for teaching children counting are dot to dot books! These are so much fun. Not only are the children working on counting, but they are also developing their hand muscles. This will help them later on with their hand writing.
My daughters loved counting as they were drawing each new picture. They had so much fun finding out what each picture was when they were done.
Another book for making the process of learning math fun for your children is the Big Book of Sticker Math! Kids can’t resist the fun of using stickers, even if it involves brushing up on a few math facts. Most likely, they won’t even realize that they’re doing math, because they’ll be having so much fun playing with the stickers.
Great books to excite your children's interest in math
Math isn't a tough, boring subject; it's a terrific life tool. And when we teach it to our kids this way, they'll measure up in and out of the classroom. You can count on it!
Pria Muzumdar, a Grade 4 teacher at Queen Victoria Public School in Toronto, loves children's books about math and has amassed a collection her students love, too. Here are a few of her recommendations.
How Much Is a Million? (Harper Collins Canada, 1993) by David M. Schwartz; grades 1 to 3.
Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar (Penguin Putnam, 1999) by Mitsumasa Anno; grades 2 to 6.
Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop (HarperCollins, 2000) by Stewart J. Murphy; grades 2 to 5.
Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday (Atheneum, 1978) by Judith Viorst; grades 2 to 5.
Twizzlers Percentages Book (Scholastic, 2001) by Jerry Pallotta; grades 3 to 6.
Math Curse (Penguin Group, 1995) by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith; grades 2 to 5.
The Token Gift (Annick, 1996) by Hugh William McKibbon and Scott Cameron; grades 2 to 6.
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (Charlesbridge, 2001) by Cindy Neuschwander; grades 4 to 6.