read any math lately?
I have a rather large collection of books that teach math principles as part of the story. I thought everyone did. I thought everyone would know about these books and have an obsession with collecting them and strewing them throughout their homes so that children grow up reading books that teach mathematical concepts and it is just part of their daily life.
I was wrong. Time after time I have had people tell me they have never heard of these types of books. Well, I am here to spread the message far and wide and to share with you our favorites!
I don’t want you to think I am saying working out problems is bad. It is great and we love the Right Start and Miquon Math Programs. However, it is NOT sufficient. I am living proof that a person can get all the answers right and have no clue what it means. I was always in the highest math classes. I took Trig and AP Calculus. I had no clue what I was doing, but I could follow the formula and churn out the right answer and get an A on the test. I want my children to understand numbers and their relationships with each other. I want them to see math in everything. I want them to think like a mathematician. One of my approaches to doing this is to read math with them. To read about inventors and thinkers and creative people throughout time. I want them to know there is a long history of people wondering about numbers and working hard to come up with answers. I want them to have examples to look to if they decide to be a mathematician. I want them to see patterns and possibilities in all the world around them. These books are my early attempts to do just that.
We have not moved up to the next level of books yet, but we are getting there and when we do, I will have a whole ‘nother post on books that are great for incorporating algebra, trig, physics, and calculus in them.
First of all, there are two websites that will change your life and the way you look at math.
They are both fabulous resources for changing your math paradigm and for finding out about wonderful books and ideas to teach math. I have learned about a lot of these books at Living Math or on the yahoo list sponsored by Living Math.
So, here are our favorite books, in no particular order, just off the top of my head as I sit here typing. Some of these are overtly teach math principles, some of them are teaching patterns, time, histories, inventions as a sidelight to the story. Some of them are MUST-HAVES in my mind, some of them are great to check-out from the library. All of them have been beneficial.
Books We Own and Have Enjoyed (okay, I guess I am going to include a few that we don’t own and have checked out from the library)
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All by Marilyn Burns (anything by Marilyn Burns is fabulous! She is the guru of learning and teaching math in creative ways.)
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander
Sea Squares by Joy Hulme
Sir Cumference series by Cindy Neuschwander
My Full Moon is Square by Elinor J. Pinczes
Inchworm and a Half by Elinor J. Pinczes
Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Math Games by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Magic Seeds by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Hat Tricks by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
The Warlord’s Puzzle by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Alarm by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Messengers by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Beads by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Fish by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Kites by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Puppeteers by Virginia Walton Pilegard
Mathematicians are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great
Mathematicians by Luetta Reimer & Wilbert Reimer (both volumes are fabulous!)Arctic Fives Arrive by Elinor J. Pinczes
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
A Remainder of One by Elinor J. Pinczes
Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt by Beatrice Lumpkin
The King’s Commissioners by Aileen Friedman
Ten Sly Piranhas by William Wise
The King’s Chessboard by David Birch
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The I Hate Mathematics! Book by Marilyn Burns (currently Blythe’s favorite)
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steve Jenkins
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins
Roman Numerals I to MM by Arthur Geisart
What’s Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah? by Robert E. Wells
What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells
How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells
Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? by Robert Wells
What’s Older Than A Giant Tortoise? by Robert E. Wells
How Do You Know What Time It Is? by Robert E. Wells
How Tall, How Short, How Faraway by David Adler
Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns
Multiplying Menace: The Revenge Of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert
Murderous Maths by Kjartan Poskitt
How Much Is A Million? by David A. Schwartz
One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (story of Erastothenes) by Kathryn Lasky
String, Straightedge and Shadow: The Story of Geometry by Julia E. Diggins
The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnston Adams
Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun
Explanation of the Economics by Richard J. Maybury (an Uncle Eric book)The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss
Can You Count Ten Toes? by Denis Roche
From Zero to Ten: The Story of Numbers by Vivian French
Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
Along Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendik
Mathematics Illustrated Dictionary: Facts, Figures and People by Jeanne Bendick
Telling the Time by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright
Radio Boy by Sharon Phillips Denslow
Julia Morgan Built a Castle by Celeste Davidson Mannis
Too Many Cooks by Andrea Buckless
Striking it Rich: The Story of the California Gold Rush by Stephen Krensky
What’s Up With That Cup? by Sheila Keenan
The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
Pizza Counting by Christina Dobson
Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Splitting the Herd: A Corral of Odds and Evens by Trudy Harris
The Great Bridge-Building Contest by Bo Zaunders
How High is the Sky? by Anna Milbourne
How Big Is A Million? by Anna Milbourne
How Deep Is The Sea by Anna Milbourne
My Place by Nadia Wheatley
Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
A Million Dots by Andrew Clements
You Can Count On Monsters by Richard Evan Schwartz – oh my heavens, this one is so brilliant!
The Joy of Mathematics by Theoni Pappas
Great Books for Older Children and Adults
A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael Schneider
The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Michael L. Munk
I know I have more…this is just what I pulled off our shelves this week…so I may need to add more books to this post later.
These are books we haven’t read, but I think sound fabulous and I want to get them.
The Number Devil by Enzensberger, Multi-concepts, cute illustrations. Fun classic, very wide appeal, can be read aloud to even very young kids
The Story of 1 by Terry Jones and PBS Home Video – One hour well presented video on the history of the number 1.
Better Than a Lemonade Stand: Small Business Ideas for Kids by Daryl Bernstein
The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures, by Malba Tahan, Chapter book, loosely based on the story of Khayyam
The Ten Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Must Know But Are Rarely Taught by Edward Zaccaro
The Book of Think by Marilyn Burns
The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat by Theoni Pappas
Hopefully this will get you started on your own math journey! If you have any questions about specific books, I will do my best to answer them.
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
Enjoyed visiting your blog and finding a kindred spirit.
Oh my heavens! I can’t believe you wrote to me…I am so thrilled! My children LOVE your books…love, love, love them. We have checked them out over and over again. Thank you for writing the Warlord series – it is delightful!
Thank you for sharing this
Thank you for posting this! I think I have some ideas for Christmas now!
Oh goody! I’m glad so many of you are enjoying these suggestions! Any questions about any of them?
Thanks! What a great list. Just what I needed.
Bookmarking and adding many to my wishlist!
I was so surprised to read this, because a couple of weeks ago, I decided that my children and I were going to start doing a “math club” every day, and cover different math concepts by playing games, doing activities, etc. I found some suggestions about storybooks about math concepts in one of my home school books, and I got on Amazon and started ordering numerous math storybooks. I think I got a little carried away, but I’m so excited about learning math this way with my children. We received our first book today, and then I read your post and saw lots of the books I ordered on your list! How exciting! Thanks for all the suggestions! Eventually I want to own all of these!
How funny!!!! Go to livingmath.net and soak it up!