30 Amazing Picture Books About Math

You can count on them loving these reads.

math picture books feature image

Young mathematicians often have a hard time understanding abstract math concepts. Enhancing your lessons with books about math for kids will help make connections while having fun in the process. Motivate your students while introducing new concepts, reinforcing ideas, and talking about all things math with some of our favorite books. We have you covered through the year with lots of elementary math topics!

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

Sorting & Patterns

1. The Animals Would Not Sleep! by Sara Levine (Pre-K–1)

Book cover for The Animals Would Not Sleep as an example of books about math for kids

Marco needs to get his stuffed animals organized before bedtime. He tries sorting them in lots of different ways, but they just won’t settle down. Kids will be clamoring to give him ideas!

Buy it: The Animals Would Not Sleep! at Amazon

2. Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy (Grades 1–3)

Book cover for Seeing Symmetry

A beautifully illustrated book about math that shows how flips, slides, and turns can create amazing symmetrical images.

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Buy it: Seeing Symmetry at Amazon

3. Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth (K–2)

Book cover for Pitter Pattern as an example of books about math for kids

Definitely add this to your list of books about math for kids to introduce patterns! This fiction and nonfiction hybrid covers many types of patterns, including simple visual patterns, sound patterns, patterns in nature, and more.

Buy it: Pitter Pattern at Amazon

Addition & Subtraction

4. Ten on a Twig by Lo Cole (Pre-K–1)

Book cover for Ten on a Twig as an example of books about math for kids

Ten adorably colorful birds sit happily on a branch—until they begin to fall off one by one! Subtraction is a hard concept to introduce to young kiddos, but this story makes it nice and concrete.

Buy it: Ten on a Twig at Amazon

5. Monster Math by Anne Miranda (Grades K–2)

Monster Math, a kids picture book about math, works on addition and subtraction skills.

This cute book about math for kids starts with a little monster patiently waiting for guests to arrive at the birthday party. As more and more arrive, kids can use addition skills to keep track. Once there are 50 guests, Monster Mom has had enough, and they begin to leave. This, of course, lends to using subtraction skills.

Buy it: Monster Math at Amazon

Geometry

6., 7., 8. Triangle, Square, and Circle by Mac Barnett (Grades K–4)

Book cover for triangle as an example of books about math for kids Book cover for Square as an example of books about math for kids Book cover for Circle as an example of books about math for kids

Kids love the humor and whimsical illustrations in the sassy stories in the Shapes trilogy. Great for talking about the attributes of different geometric shapes in a fun context.

Buy it: Triangle, Square, and Circle at Amazon

9. Which One Doesn’t Belong? by Christopher Danielson (Pre-K–2)

Book cover for Which One Doesn't Belong as an example of books about math for kids

Keep the mathematical talk going by talking about attributes of shapes and how they are the same and different. Observations about the shapes on each page can go in many different directions.

Buy it: Which One Doesn’t Belong at Amazon

10. Sir Cumference and the First Round Table  by Cindy Neuschwander (Grades 2–7)

Book cover for Sir Cumference and the First Round Table as an example of kids books about math

Brave knights, a strong ruler, and a dilemma that needs to be solved using math. Great for introducing geometry concepts in a fun and accessible way.

Buy it: Sir Cumference and the First Round Table at Amazon

Counting

11. How Many? (Talking Math) by Christopher Danielson (Pre-K–2)

Book cover for How Many? as an example of books about math for kids

This really is “a different kind of counting book”! Each page has a thought-provoking photo in which readers decide what and how to count. If you’re looking for a kids’ book about math to get interesting number talks flowing, this is it!

Buy it: How Many? (Talking Math) at Amazon

12. Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book About Building by Kurt Cyrus (Pre-K–2)

Book cover for Billions of Bricks

Watch as this busy construction crew creates impressive structures by grouping bricks by twos, fives, and tens. Kids will love the catchy repetitive verse and charming illustrations.

Buy it: Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book About Building at Amazon

Measurement

13. Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni (Pre-K–2)

Follow the adventures of an adorable inchworm as he measures different body parts of his animal friends. When a bird threatens to eat the inchworm if he can’t measure an intangible item, he gets creative. Kids love the colorful and whimsical artwork common to Lionni’s books.

Cover of the book Inch by Inch is a great picture book about math.

Buy it: Inch by Inch at Amazon

Place Value

14. Place Value by David Adler (Grades 1–5)

Book cover for Place Value as an example of books about math for kids

Love the story about monkeys jumping on the bed? You’ll adore this version that tells the story of the monkeys at Banana Cafe making one very large banana cupcake.

Buy it: Place Value at Amazon

Area and Perimeter

15. Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns (Pre-K–3)

Book cover for Spaghetti and Meatballs for All as an example of books about math for kids

Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion and need to arrange the tables so that everyone in the family can enjoy their fabulous spaghetti and meatballs. A witty tale by math guru Marilyn Burns.

Buy it: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! at Amazon

Number Sense

16. Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford (Grades K–5)

Book cover for Infinity and Me

Delightful illustrations and a dreamy young girl pondering the vastness of the universe make a very difficult concept approachable and interesting.

Buy it: Infinity and Me at Amazon

17. A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn (Grades 2–5)

Book cover for A Very Improbable Story

Ethan wakes up one morning with a strange cat on his head, and the only way it will agree to get off is if Ethan agrees to play a game of probability with it. This kooky book will entertain your students as it teaches a difficult concept.

Buy it: A Very Improbable Story at Amazon

18. Zero the Hero by Joan Holub (Grades 1–5)

Book cover for Zero the Hero

Kids will love this fun story with delightful cartoon illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld that teach the importance of zero as a placeholder in our number system. Without Zero the Hero, we wouldn’t be able to count beyond the number nine!

Buy it: Zero the Hero at Amazon

19. Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll (Grades K–3)

Book cover for Equal Shmequal

Mouse and her friends want to play a game of tug-of-war but have a hard time making the sides fair. This charming story teaches the concept of balance and equality.

Buy it: Equal Shmequal at Amazon

20., 21. One Odd Day and My Even Day by Doris Fisher and Dani Sneed (Grades K–3)

Book cover for One Odd Day Book cover for My Even Day

Two more rhyming tales with colorful, busy illustrations that kids will love. In each of these books about math, a boy wakes up one day and finds that things are kookily out of order. Great as read-alouds or for independent readers who will love hunting through the detailed pictures to find the odd or even items.

Buy it: One Odd Day and My Even Day at Amazon

22. How Much Is a Million? by David M. Schwartz (Grades K–4)

The cover of How Much is a Million demonstrates kids picture books about math in a magical way.

Books about math for kids are especially helpful when demonstrating very large numbers since it shows a visual picture of them. Kids love hearing about the numbers in the millions, billions, and trillions, so this book will add to the excitement. With a mystical main character named Marvelossissimo the Magician and illustrations by Steven Kellogg, this book is beyond memorable.

Buy it: How Much Is a Million? at Amazon

Telling Time

23. A Second, a Minute, a Week With Days in It: A Book About Time by Brian P. Cleary (Grades 1–4)

Book cover for A Second, a Minute, a Week With Days In It

A playful book with silly characters and perfect rhyming that teaches not just the basics of telling time, but the tricky concept of relative time.

Buy it: A Second, a Minute, a Week with Days in It: A Book About Time at Amazon

24. If You Were a Minute by Tricia Speed Shaskan (Grades 1–3)

Math books for kids include books about time, like If You Were a Minute, shown here.

How long is a minute, really, when trying to make sense of time? Kids can look at a clock and read the time, but this book helps them understand what can be done in different amounts of time to build deeper meaning. It is never to early to introduce time management skills.

Buy it: If You Were a Minute at Amazon

Division and Fractions

25. A Remainder of One by Elinor Pinczes (Pre-K–3)

Book cover for A Remainder of One

The 25th Beetle Army Corp is trying to solve the problem of how to divide their troops into equal groups for the parade march without leaving any stragglers. A fun rhyming book about math that will get kids thinking about how numbers are put together and pulled apart.

Buy it: A Remainder of One at Amazon

26. The Great Divide: A Mathematical Marathon by Dayle Ann Dodds (Grades 1–5)

Book cover of The Great Divide, a picture book about math.

At the beginning of the story, 80 contestants are ready to compete in the Great Divide. Dangers lie ahead at every turn, causing more and more runners to leave the competition. Who will be left at the end and survive the obstacles?

Buy it: The Great Divide: A Mathematical Marathon at Amazon

27. The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Fractions Book by Jerry Pallotta (Grades 2–4)

Kids love the kids book about math The Hershey's Fractions Book because they can work with a Hershey bar during the reading of it as pictured on the cover.

Incorporating books about math with tasty treats is a surefire way to get kids’ attention. Hershey’s chocolate bars are made up of 12 rectangles. Pass out a chocolate bar to each student. Then, use them with this book for a delicious, hands-on fractions lesson.

Buy it: The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Fraction Book at Amazon

Problem-Solving

28. The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang (Grades 1–4)

Book cover of The Grapes of Math, a picture book about math where kids can stretch their thinking.

Good books about math for kids hone in on problem-solving, identifying patterns, symmetry, and grouping. This one uses all four concepts to help students count in groups, instead of going one by one. Your students will think out of the box as they come up with ways to solve each math riddle. Watch the enthusiasm grow bigger with each turn of the page!

Buy it: The Grapes of Math at Amazon

29. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi

Kids picture books about math, like One Grain of Rice, help students problem-solve while learning a life lesson.

In this Indian folktale, a greedy raja keeps all of the rice for himself. As the rest of the village starves, a clever girl named Rani devises a plan. She makes a deal to receive one grain of rice, doubled, for 30 days. As time passes, over 1 billion grains of rice become available for all of the villagers to share. Problem-solving, along with multiplication, are a big part of this book. At the same time, the valuable lessons of fairness and sharing shine through.

Buy it: One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale at Amazon

30. Seven Golden Rings by Rajani LaRocca (Grades 1–5)

Book cover for Seven Golden Rings

This story of a clever young boy in ancient India can be enjoyed on many levels. Bhagat must figure out how to stretch his family’s only fortune, seven golden rings, as far as possible—which leads to some creative mathematical thinking! To engage older students, use the afterword to introduce how to write numbers in binary.

Buy it: Seven Golden Rings at Amazon

Also check out 50 Third Grade Math Word Problems of the Day.

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Books about math for kids are the best tool for getting kids excited about math concepts and keeping math conversations going all day long!