Math Picture Books for Kids

Reading materials, like picture books, bring the outside world to young readers. At the age of six months, parents generally introduce titles like My First Word Book, First 100 Words, and Baby Einstein: 100 Words, in order to increase their young ones' vocabulary. These books are usually read repeatedly till babies understand pictures and can relate to objects in the real world.   

The same applies to mathematical concepts, which should also be introduced at an early age. When we use picture books to support math lessons, youngsters are not only excited to learn math in a different way, but they also come to associate the feel-good joy of reading with math.

Picture books give readers an effortless visual and auditory connection to learning number recognition and counting. Some focus on simple math concepts like shapes and patterns, while others teach children addition and subtraction as well as the concept of measurement.  

The Mercer County Library System has an excellent collection of books for building initial math concepts for toddlers. Below is a sample of math picture book titles for kids. 

Shapes and Patterns

Circle! Sphere! by Grace Lin

Manny, Olivia, and Mei are blowing bubbles. Manny's wand is a circle, Olivia's wand is a square, and Mei's wand is a heart. What shape will their bubbles be? Engages young children in exploring geometry and making predictions.

Watch This! A Book about Making Shapes by Jane Godwin

Can you make a circle with your arms? Or a triangle with your fingers? If we work together, we can make a rectangle, or even a pyramid. We can make lots and lots of shapes.

Shapes by Shelley Rotner

An introduction to shapes with examples of real-life objects that resemble those shapes.

Let's Learn Shapes by Anna C. Peterson

In Let's Learn Shapes, emergent readers will learn shapes by seeing road signs of different shapes. Carefully crafted text uses high-frequency words, repetitive sentence patterns, and strong visual references to support emergent readers, ensuring reading success by making sure they aren't facing too many challenges at once.

Shapes with Little Fish by Lucy Cousins

Take your finger and trace! Little Fish invites little fans to get a feel for shapes in an adorable early concept book.

Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth

Lu and friends spot patterns in their daily activities, including patterns found in music, weather, time, play, shapes, nature, math, and language.

Pattern by Henry Pluckrose

Explains to the reader about mathematical pattern.

Left, Right, Emma! by Stuart J. Murphy

After learning the concept of left and right, Emma leads the class marching band on Grandparents Day.

Anno’s Magic Seeds by Mitsumasa Anno

The reader is asked to perform a series of mathematical operations integrated into the story of a lazy man who plants magic seeds and reaps an increasingly abundant harvest.

Numbers and Counting

Pigeon Math by Asia Citro

Telling a story about pigeons should be simple. But what's a narrator to do when the number of feathered friends is constantly changing? Can our intrepid storyteller use math facts to keep up with the unstable quantities...or is this pigeon-centric tale doomed?

The Last Marshmallow by Grace Lin

Olivia and Mei have two cups of cocoa and three big marshmallows. Olivia gets one marshmallow, and Mei gets one marshmallow. How will they share the last one? Engages young children in sharing equally.

Five on the Bed by Addie K. Boswell

A young girl, her parents, and their dog and cat appear on, under, and next to the bed as they all get ready to sleep in this counting book featuring cut paper illustrations.

Double the Dinosaurs by Diana Murray

In this story that introduces the fundamentals of addition and the concept of doubling, a swamp becomes quite crowded as the number of dinosaurs doubles each time, from one to sixty-four.

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

Numbers from ten to one are part of this lullaby which observes the room of a little girl going to bed.

100 Bugs!: A Counting Book by Kate Narita

A boy and girl find and count 100 different bugs in their backyard in increments of ten.

Two by Kathryn Otoshi

TWO's best friend is ONE...until THREE jumps in between them. A powerful story of friendship, loss, letting go, and self-discovery.

Sheep Won't Sleep: Counting By 2s, 5s, and 10s by Judy Cox 

A girl who cannot sleep decides to count sheep and other woolly animals by ones, twos, fives, and tens.

How Many? How Much? by Rosemary Wells

Timothy and his kindergarten classmates learn about counting, measuring, money, other math concepts. Includes activities on directionality, spatial relations, and the days of the week.

How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings? by In Seon Chae 

Faced with keeping track of twelve ducklings, Mama Duck finds different ways to group them so that they are easier to count.

Uno's Garden by Graeme Base

Uno builds a home and garden in the magnificent forest among the playful puddle buts and feathered frinklepods, but as the place becomes more and more popular, it is overtaken by tourists and buildings until the forest and animals seem to disappear altogether.

One Grain of Rice by Demi

A reward of one grain of rice doubles day by day into millions of grains of rice when a selfish raja is outwitted by a clever village girl.

Adding and Subtracting

Arithmechicks Take Away by Ann Marie Stephens

The Arithmechicks have invited their new friend Mouse for a sleepover. When Mama says it's time for bed, the clever chicks decide it's time to prolong the fun instead! During the story, readers are invited to count and take away during everyone's favorite game of hide-and-seek -- and to find Mouse, who hides in a different place in each illustration -- until all settle down for bed in the warm, cozy conclusion. The book is the perfect introduction to essential math for young children and their caregivers. It includes a helpful glossary that defines the eight arithmetic strategies the chicks use throughout the story.

Way Up High in the Apple Tree by Nicholas Ian

Way Up High in the Apple Tree there are ten tasty apples. Then along came ten hungry people to pick those apples. Learn basic subtraction in this Sing-along Song, and see who comes to eat the apples in the apple tree.

Three Blue Pigeons by Nicholas Ian

Three Blue Pigeons fly away. Then they come back home to roost. Learn basic subtraction and addition in this Sing-along Song, while counting backwards and forwards.

Rumble Bus by Larry Dane Brimner

Children get on and off the school bus, providing a lesson in addition and subtraction.

Measurement and Size

Who Eats First? by Ae-hae Yoon

It's a sweet, juicy peach! A big round peach has fallen to the ground. Six animal friends are eager to gobble it up, but which one will be the first to take a bite? Each animal wants to eat first--but there's a delicious surprise ahead for all! Elementary math concepts that relate to comparing, sorting, ordering, and measuring expand the lighthearted story about friendship

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Two mice have fun playing on a teeter-totter, but as more and larger friends join them, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay balanced.

Next to an Ant by Mara Rockliff

A child compares the size of various items and discovers that she is the tallest of all.

Inch by Inch by Leo Leonni

To keep from being eaten, an inchworm measures a robin's tail, a flamingo's neck, a toucan's beak, a heron's legs, and a nightingale's song.

Problem Solving

The Case of the Lost Robot by Anthony, William 

Help the STEM Detectives find one of their team members. Robot iGumbo has gone missing. Bring your skills in mapping, finding bugs in instructions, and turning back time. Grab your notepad and start investigating!

Peg + Cat: The Pizza Problem by Jennifer Oxley

It's lunchtime at Peg's Pizza Place! Peg and Cat are excited to take their first order--from the Teens!--only to learn that some of their customers want a whole pizza while one of them wants half a pie. How can Peg and Cat make half a pie when they don't know what half is? Luckily, Ramone and Mac are there to help, with a slice up the middle of the pizza. As more customers come in, things get entertaining, with Peg singing a jazzy song and Cat doing a dance. But soon there's another problem: four orders, but only two and a half pizzas left. Peg is totally freaking out--until Cat reminds her that when it comes to halves and wholes, it's all in how you slice it.

Doctor Mouse by Christa Kempter

Summary: Doctor Mouse practices his unique methods on his animal patients.

- by Chetna Kukreja, Ewing Branch