Top 16 Books About Numbers Updated 04 /2024

There are a lot of great counting books out there. Today, Rebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us again to share another great list with us.

He can count well, but my little one, who is 2, is still learning how to do it.

Here is a list of some of our favorite counting books, from timeless classics to new books that have just come out.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar | Eric Carle

We have a lot of copies of this book. It is great for so many different types of math, from numbers and time to color, repetition, pattern, science, and life cycles. In this book, Eric Carle's clever and unique collage art inspires kids from all over the world to make their own art.

Counting in the Garden | Patrick and Emily Hruby

A fun counting book that you can use in so many different ways. Usually, when I read this book, we focus on adding the numbers one by one and adding them all together. Each page has hidden garden items that we find, so we count not only one onion, two turnips, and three thistles as each item is found, but we also add them together. One onion + two turnips = three vegetables. One onion, two turnips, and three thistles make up six things that are hidden in the garden.

10 Little Rubber Ducks | Eric Carle

One of the best books for teaching ordinal numbers because you follow the path of 10 little rubber ducks as they are washed overboard a container ship in an icy storm.

The Poky Little Puppy | Jean Chandler

This book was mine when I was little. When I had my first child, my parents gave this to me to read to him. I read it with him. From 1 to 10, this is a beautiful book.

A Child’s First 1 2 3 Numbers | Alison Jay

It's hard for me to get enough of Alison Jay's beautiful art style. Each page in this counting primer has a little bit of the page before and the next page hidden in the picture. I love going to the little link. Alison is also very clever when she shows the number in focus again and again on the page. As an example, on the three little pigs page, we see not only three pigs, but also three tea cups and saucers, three apples, three umbrellas, three cushions, and so on. In this game, you play with the kids who can find another way to say the given number. It's a lot of fun!

The High Street | Alice Melvin and Counting Birds | Alice Melvin

Alice Melvin's art is so cute and her books are so cute.

 

My kids love to count birds. This rhyming primer teaches us about a lot of birds we didn't know, as well as how to count from 1-20.

An important part of The High Street is remembering things and making lists. A Persian rug and a cockatoo are on Sally's shopping list when she goes to the High Street. There is a three-page spread when the pages open up. It's just beautiful. Each page is full of small, beautiful things. You could spend all afternoon looking at them all. The High Street is one of their favorite books because it has extra pockets, flaps, and pop-ups.

One Gorilla A Counting Book | Anthony Browne

This book is a real treat. The illustrations alone are worth going to see. He's at his best here. Love this book: Our youngest, who is 2 years old, can't get enough of it. She likes to tell us which primates are on each page. It would be great to use as a way to start a conversation about primates because the 10 images are so different and interesting.

That 17th Hat | Trevor Eissler and Marloes de Vries and 4, 963, 571 | Trevor Eissler and Ruth Chung

Their website says they want to make kids happy and inspire them, while also introducing their families to Montessori education. June books is the publisher of the above books. They write books that honor children and the important work they do naturally as they work on their own self-improvement.

"That 17th Hat" and "4, 962, 571" both have a lot of numbers in them and are great for kids who have a better sense of numbers. "4,962,571" is a good place to start when talking about bigger numbers and how to record them.

Both have end pages that help parents understand the main Montessori principles that are in the picture books they're reading. As the author reads each title, this video shows both of them.

10 Little Circus Mice | Caroline Stills and Judith Rossell

A cute story about mice teaching the friends of ten a lot of fun things about each other. People in the group of ten are 10+0, 9+0, 8+0, 7+3, 6+4, 5+5, 4+6, 3+7, 2+8, 1+9, 0+10.

Montessori Number Work | June and Bobby George

This book lets the reader experience numbers in many different ways. There are also sandpaper numerals that you can trace to help you learn how to write numbers, so you can keep track of how many things there are.

Anno, M. (1977). Anno's Counting Book. New York: HarperCollins.

There are no words in this book, but beautiful pictures show how the land changes as we move from one season to the next. Each page also shows what people and animals do in the places where they live. From January to December, and from 1 to 12, you'll see the numbers in groups of trees, people, or other things. The book can also be used to teach kids how to add.

Baker, K. (1999). Quack and Count. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.

This story shows how to put seven ducks together in different ways. If there are three of them on one page, then there are four on the other. If there are five of them on one page, then there are two. The total is still seven. This number, and all of the others (except one) can be put together and broken down in different ways. This is one of the most important things about the commutative property of the whole number.

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