Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Topic: Maths

Ten cats discover three cans of paint and blotches, splotches and splats go everywhere!

A funny exploration of colour from award-winning author/illustrator Emily Gravett, 10 Cats is a wonderfully simple and engaging picture book.

While learning about counting and colours, very young children will delight in the adorable kittens on every spread and the simple text that is perfect for reading aloud.

A wonderful and unique look at counting and friendship.

This very simple picture book is about two friends, Sue and Nick, who like very different things but are still best friends. They introduce us to all their favourite things from one boy called Nick and one girl called Sue to ten cakes for tea, and then all the way back down to one yellow moon shining in the night sky. The artwork is stunning with each artist contributing alternate pages in their own inimitable style. The deceptively simple text is perfect for children learning to read.

Non-fictionPicturebook

Double the numbers to go from 1 to 1,000,000 in 40 pages. A stunning visualization of numbers big and small.

We start with a single tree; 1. As we turn the page, we are presented with a sum doubling the number on the page before it: 1+1 = 2; 2+2 = 4; 4+4 = 8. In this way, we reach a million (actually 1,048,576) within 44 pages.

Each sum is brought to life with a simple graphic illustration in the distinctive style of Sven Völker. The dots form the back of a ladybird, the bubbles in a cup of soda and the water in a swimming pool. On each page, a single neon dot illustrates what one means in the context of the sum.

Gloriously simple in its concept and execution, this is a book that will bring mathematics alive to parents as well as children and will also make a stunning gift book.

Maths Picturebooks List

Picturebooks can provide an excellent way of engaging pupils with maths. On this booklist, we have picked a selection of the best maths-themed stories that open opportunities to explore a range of mathematical concepts. Many thanks to Year 1 teacher Dean Boddington for working together with us to create this selection of the best children’s books about maths topics.

The books on the maths booklist cover topics of counting, number concepts, shape, space, measure and problem solving. 

This varied booklist includes showstoppers like How Many Jelly Beans?, stories about doubling like Centipede’s 100 Shoes or Double the Fun and stories with big number concepts like How Big is a Million?

We’ve also included stories about counting, like the beautifully illustrated Counting Creatures, shape and measure stories like The Perfect Fit and How Much Does a Ladybird Weigh?, and problem-solving favourites like 365 Penguins. 

A simple counting story from 1 – 10 that is written in the style of a Caribbean dialect, with stunning illustrations that will quickly grab the attention of young readers. This rhyming book written by much-loved poet Valerie Bloom introduces basic counting as well as showcasing a number of different fruits from the Caribbean. There is a glossary at the end of the book that explains the new words that readers may have encountered in the story.

Non-fictionPicturebook

This book is full of mind-blowing facts that readers young and old will find astounding, offering interesting context to the complex topic of time as well as distance and world history. It could be used across KS1 and KS2, either being used as a book to enjoy as a read-aloud and talk about the amazing facts or to delve deeper into each page and work through some of the related calculations.

Weight and mass often mean little to children without context. This book is brilliant for offering the context to the topic, with each page building on the last to compare the weight of different animals. It is fascinating to read the comparisons and children will begin to formulate their own questions and hypotheses long after the book is finished.

This is a book that helps younger children to visualise the larger numbers that intrigue them so much, through a cute and playful story about a curious penguin who wants to find out more about numbers. The book ends with a pull-out poster with one million stars in the night sky.

We know that certain animals are large or small, but how big exactly? Each page shows the actual size of an animal. Some easily fit on the page, others only manage an eye or a hand. A much-enjoyed book that leaves children in awe at the actual size of some animals, as it’s not often that we come face to face with the biggest beasts on earth! A high-interest link to topics of measurement or ratio.

There is so much to love about this book, which would be great to share individually or in small groups. Each page sparks a mathematical discussion about shapes in the context of the natural world. The collaged artwork is beautiful and the text is written in verse, giving the book an enthralling appeal to young readers and adults alike. The ‘Nature Notes’ at the end give extra information about all the animals featured in the book.

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