Picture Book Book List: Math

Using math in storytime always seemed intimidating to me until I attended a STEAM programming seminar. One of the presenters spoke about incorporating math books and activities into storytimes  and it was like a revelation to me! Ever since then, I have been keeping my eyes peeled for math picture books which also read aloud well. Many of these titles are new, but quite a few are ones I remember from my childhood. They're all wonderful for reading at storytime or one-on-one. I've marked which age group I've used them on to the most success, but I encourage you to try them all and see for yourself!

Multiplication- PreSchool, School Age

Balance, Size, and Weight- Toddlers

Counting in large quantities and Skip Counting- PreSchool, School Age

Biography and Math in the World- PreSchool, School Age

Geometry- Preschool

Geometry- PreSchool, School Age

Measuring- PreSchool, School Age

Counting & Subtraction- Toddlers, PreSchool

Even and odd numbers- PreSchool, School Age

Counting & Ordinal Numbers- Toddlers, PreSchool

Fractions & Math in the World- PreSchool, School Age

Graphing- PreSchool, School Age

Geometry- PreSchool, School Age

Telling Time- PreSchool, School Age

Skip Counting and Estimation- PreSchool, School Age

Infinity- School Age

Negative Numbers- PreSchool, School Age

Fair Division, PreSchool, School Age

Math in the World- PreSchool, Grade School

Math in the World- PreSchool, School Age

*This author has several others which are equally fun

Measuring- PreSchool, School Age

Multiplication- PreSchool, School Age

Math in the World- PreSchool, School Age

 

Multiplication- School Age

Division and Skip Counting- PreSchool, School Age

Place Value- School Age

Probability- School Age

Division- School Age

Geometry- School Age

Geometry- School Age

*There are many more in this series

Geometry and Math in the World- School Age

Counting- Toddlers, PreSchool

Addition- PreSchool, School Age

Division- PreSchool, School Age

Skip Counting- PreSchool, School Age

Zero- PreSchool, School Age

Picture Book Art: Eric Carle

One of the most popular programs at the children's museum where I used to work was an art program where we created pieces based on stories we read. I wanted to try a program with that idea, but make it a little more picture book- based. Hence, Picture Book Art! We started by talking about the difference between an author and an illustrator (and how sometimes they're the same person). Then we read The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle, talked about collages/how to make them, and got start making our own collage masterpieces! This program was for 2-5 year olds and took about 30 minutes.

Art in action:

We used glue and tissue paper to cover animals however we chose, although we did talk about how in the book we read, Eric Carle chose to use one color family per animal. Eric Carle's specific method of collage was a little complicated for 2-5 year olds, so we had a video playing in the background where he explains how he does his illustrations:

This program was a lot of fun! I love doing huge programs, but sometimes it feels really good to do a quiet program where families feel like they can settle in together and work however they feel. The simple collage method we did felt just right for this age group, but it would be fun to try it the exact way Eric Carle does it (but definitely with older kids since it would involve a knife and/or scissors). I can't wait to try another session with a new artist in the fall!