Using picture books in math class is one of my favorite ways to take what can be abstract concepts and put them into contexts my students can understand. Here are some of my favorite picture books for teaching math.
I have more picture books in my collection than I even have room to store in my classroom.Can you relate?
Every month when the Scholastic book order hits my mailbox my wallet cringes just a little.
Picture books are just such a fantastic way to take new or abstract concepts and put them into contexts that our students can understand. And they’re just such fun. 🙂
Here are just a few of my favorites:
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander is a fantastic book to use when introducing multiplication. In this book, Amanda Bean counts anything and everything. When a dream gets really crazy, Amanda Bean realizes that multiplication is far easier than counting! Your students will love creating multiplication stories for all of the great illustrations!
The Greedy Triangle
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns is such a fun way to launch a geometry unit about 2-dimensional shapes. When the Greedy Triangle starts feeling bored with the same old things in his life, he visits the local Shapeshifter to add one more side and one more angle. Your students will love spotting the shapes in the pictures!
Great Estimations
Great Estimations by Bruce Goldstone has fantastic visuals to help your students practice the skill of estimating quantities. It includes colorful photos to help train your eyes to make great estimations. This book would be a fabulous place to start when beginning an estimation station in your classroom!
The Action of Subtraction
The Action of Subtractionby Brian P. Cleary is a fun rhyming book that demonstrates what it means to take one number away from another number in real-life contexts. This one is part of a larger series of math books that are a must-have in your classroom library!
A Very Improbable Story
A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn is hilarious and sure to be a hit with your students. When Ethan wakes up with a cat named Odds on his head, he must win a game of probability to get Odds to leave. From drawing the correct coin from his collection to pulling matching socks from his drawer and selecting a particular combination of colored marbles, your students will be introduced to the language of probability in a fun way!
Want More Titles?
The titles above are just a tiny sample of my favorite picture books for teaching math. You can grab a FREE growing list additional titles right here in my Freebie Library! They are sorted by the math topic they address, and I’ll be adding to it as more titles are shared with me so be sure to check back!
Have a favorite math book to share? Drop the title in the comments, and I’ll add it to the list!
Take a look at this post about the Epic! reading app. It is a great source of picture books for use in your classroom!
You might be interested in some of the ideas I’ve collected on this Pinterest board:
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