Math & Literature: Addition, Subtraction, Algebra, Counting
Addition and Subtraction
12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam
Eve Merriam and Bernie Karlin take young readers on a counting adventure as they demonstrate twelve witty and imaginative ways to get to eleven.
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert Brightly colored fish introduce young children to counting and basic addition in this fun and simple concept book. "A visual treat from start to finish."--Booklist
How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Come along for some BIG fun as your favorite dinosaurs delight young readers with their playful antics. How do dinosaurs count to ten? Over and over and over again!
Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food By Greg Tang
By solving challenges that encourage kids to "group" numbers rather than memorize formulas, even the most reluctant math learners are inspired to see math in a whole new way!
Mission Addition by Loreen Leedy
Miss Prime and her animal students explore addition by finding many examples in the world around them.
One Less Fish by Kim Michelle Toft and Allan Sheather
Tropical fish shimmer across the pages as this cautionary tale counts down from 12 to 0 warning of threats to a fragile ecosystem. One by one fish disappear-where have they gone? Will the fish come back?
Subtraction Action by Loreen Leedy
Readers learn, along with Miss Prime's quirky students, about such important mathematical concepts as the definition of difference, writing a subtraction equation, regrouping, and three-digit equations.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
This book follows the ravenous caterpillar's path as he eats his way through one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, and so on, through cherry pie and sausage - -until he is really fat and has a stomachache -- I bet you can guess what happens then! It is good for teaching nutrition, counting, science (stages of a butterfly) and the days of the week.
Algebra
Bat Jamboree by Kathi AppeltThe book introduces the triangular number pattern as bats assemble for the final number beginning with 10 bats in the bottom row, 9 in the next row, etc. to the very top row with 1 bat.
Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt
This book is a literary introduction to square numbers and the patterns they form as square arrays. The pictures and rhyme reinforce the mathematics of the patterns and teachers can easily ask students to predict how many bats will be in the next section or ask them to figure out how many bats are in the whole band before reading those pages.
One Grain of Rice by DemiThis is a story of Rani, a clever girl who outsmarts a very selfish raja and saves her village. When offered a reward for a good deed, she asks only for one grain of rice, doubled each day for 30 days. Remember your math? That's lots of rice: enough to feed a village for a good long time--and to teach a greedy raja a lesson.
Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong
A poor old Chinese farmer finds a magic brass pot that doubles or duplicates whatever is placed inside it, but his efforts to make himself wealthy lead to unexpected complications.
Counting
1, 2, 3 by Tana Hoban A first book of counting. (Pre-K)
Anno's Counting Book by Anno Mitsumasa
On the first page all we see is a barren winter landscape--a hazy, blue sky above a hazy, white hill. Nothing to count here. But wait, this is zero! On the next page the scene brightens: one tree, one bird, one house. Turn the page again and the snow has started to melt--we find two buildings, two trucks, two trees, two children, two dogs, and two adults. The objects in the beautiful watercolor pictures correspond with each consecutive number, and in addition (so to speak), the number of items on the page increases exponentially.
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Vera Aardema
The story of how Ki-pat ingeniously brings rain to the arid Kapiti Plain. "Cumulative rhyming tale with the rhythm and repetition of The House That Jack Built . . . Illustrations are stylized, simple, and dramatic."--School Library Journal.
Count & See by Tana HobanThere are things to count all around you. If you look. And think. And see. Exciting photographs -- reinforced by the number as word, as numeral, and as model set -- show you how to count what you see, and make what you see count. (PreK-K)
Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra
A delightful story of how monkey gets from his small island to a faraway island where a banana tree grows. One crusty croc emerges to imply slyly that there are so many crocs that she could easily walk on their backs to the banana island, and invites her to count them.
How Much Is a Million? By David M. Schwartz
An attempt to help children conceptualize the immensity of numbers is aided immeasurably by the artist's jovial, detailed, whimsical illustrations. Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician demonstrates the meaning of a million by showing his four young friends (plus two cats, a dog, and a unicorn) that it would take twenty-three days to even count to a million and that a goldfish bowl large enough to hold a million goldfish could hold a whale.
Math For All Seasons by Greg Tang
This collection of rhyming math puzzles encourages kids to think through problems, rather than relying on memorization and formulas. (Ages 5-8)
One Bear at Bedtime by Mick Inkpen
One little boy thinks he just needs his teddy for bedtime but he is very wrong. A humorous counting book featuring kangaroos bouncing on the bed, giraffes in the bath and a monster with ten heads who takes forever to say goodnight.
One Crow: A Counting Book by Jim Aylesworth
Summer turns to winter in this rhyming counting book, whose bucolic illustrations have a pleasingly old-fashioned look and feel. Ages 2-6.
Over in the Meadow by Olive Wadsworth
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
What can you do with ten black dots? One dot can make a sun or a moon when day is done. Two dots can make the eyes of a fox.... Count all the way to ten with Donald Crews and delight in the simple rhymes, everyday objects, and stunning graphics of a master of the picture concept book.
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
Follow ten little fish as they swim along a beautiful ocean reef, one by one departing from the school for different reasons, eventually leaving one fellow all alone. Along comes another, and that makes two! Soon he becomes a father and she becomes a mother--with ten little children of their own. The rhyming text helps readers go from one to ten and back again.
Ten Sly Piranhas: A Counting Story in Reverse by William Wise
Ten sly piranhas are swimming in a river, but one at a time they disappear, until there is only one left. Children will love learning to count backward in this crafty tale about one very hungry piranha.
The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang
Greg Tang shows readers creative ways to use patterns and combinations of numbers to solve math puzzles quickly and effectively.
The Icky Bug Counting Book by Jerry Pallotta
"The Icky Bug Counting Book is a refreshing change from many of the books designed for young children. . . . Offering challenging information . . . this unusually well-written and well-illustrated book would be a good addition to a young learner's bookshelf."--Science Books and Films. Full-color illustrations.
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Two Ways to Count to Ten by Ruby Dee
"A clever tale about the jungle beasts learning to count, showing once again that being strong is not the same as being smart."—The New York Times
What Comes in 2's, 3's, and 4's by Suzanne Aker
This picture book presents the set number concept through pictures of everyday objects. For instance, to present the number two, readers are shown not only arms and legs but also the two pieces of bread used in sandwich making. Other basic concepts such as shapes are included in a fully integrated fashion. PreK-K
This is the featured reading list from the 2009 Read to Me Conference breakout session by Laurie Taguchi and Ann Ushiroda.