I am a HUGE fan of integrating literacy in the primary classroom wherever I can. Not only does it continue to develop your students love of books and reading, but literature can be a fantastic way to illustrate a new concept or idea.
Together with our social media tribe, we have collated a list of 12 picture books that can be used to support Mathematics in your classroom:
1. “The Doorbell Rang” by Pat Hutchins
A great book to introduce sharing and division. I’ve even done lessons where the students have acted this book out and it is a huge hit! (You can definitely tell how loved this book is by my photo!)
2. “One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab” By April Pulley Sayre & Jeff Sayre
Where do I start with this one… awesome for counting, addition (especially counting on), counting by tens, grouping and comparing how numbers can be represented in different ways. This book is a must have for any math bookshelf, you will use it over and over!
3. “Mr Achimedes ’ Bath” by Pamela Allen
A perfect book to introduce the concept of capacity and a good segway into a capacity experiment with your students. “Who Sank the Boat” by Pamela Allen can be used in a similar way to ‘set the stage’ for a measuring weight experiment or activity and to discuss the concept of mass.
4. “Rosie’s Walk” by Pat Hutchins
A fabulous picture book to introduce, discuss or make vocabulary lists of positional language. A good one for early learners.
5. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
This book is a wonderful combination for early counting or one-to-one correspondence when counting and learning the days of the week (links can be made to Science as well!).
6. “The Very Blue Thingamajig” by Narelle Oliver
Great use of mathematical language such as ‘odd’, ‘even’, ‘pair’, ‘two lots of two’, learning the days of the week, counting (it is also a fabulous read for teaching descriptive language during writing lessons too!). This book is a winner!
7. “The Greedy Triangle” by Marilyn Burns
Use this book is for older students to support learning about 2D shapes. It uses language such as ‘quadrilateral’ and ‘angles’. It also talks about properties of a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon and an octagon.
8. “Shoes in Twos” by James Burnett and Calvin Irons
As the title suggests, use this book to introduce, practise or explain skip counting by two. It is also a good one to keep in mind when students are moving from skip counting to multiplication by two.
9. “None the Number” by Oliver Jeffers
A quirky book that talks about the number zero and if it is in fact a number. A good book to use if you are introducing the role of zero within a number. It also does lots of counting throughout.
10. “Minnie’s Diner: A Multiplying Menu” by Dayle Ann Dodds
This book explores the notion of doubling and the link to multiplication. A good book for students who are ready to make links between doubles and multiplication.
11. “Two of Everything” by Lily Toy Hong
While we are on the topic of doubles, this book is a magical story all about doubling. This one is good for younger students when learning about what is means to double a number (halves could also be explored).
12. “One Hundred Hungry Ants” by Elinor J. Pinczes
This is a fabulous read to explore arrays. You could also use it to investigate the number 100 or on the 100th day of school. Another must have for the bookshelf!
There you have it – 12 picture books that can be implemented into your math lessons to engage students or further illustrate and explain concepts.
Do you have a favourite picture book to use during your Mathematics lessons? Please share them with us… our list can never be too long!
What to read next… 8 ways to use your ‘Number of the Day’ freebie!
