Number Properties; Pairs, Dozens, Odd / Even, Natural Groups, Zero and Negative Numbers
Suitability comments on Main Reader Page
► = Our family's favorites Y = for the youngest kids
To print, click on the printer icon at the bottom of the list
Even Steven And Odd Todd (level 3) (Hello Reader, Math) by Kathryn Cristaldi
Less Than Nothing Is Really Something (Young Math Book) by Robert Froman
MathStart readers by Stuart Murphy: Less Than Zero (MathStart 3) ► nice story about Perry the Penguin's rise from debt to saving enough money for a scooter, graphing and negative numbers; Missing Mittens (MathStart 1) , odd and even numbers
Mice Twice Y ► by Joseph Low, Caldecott Honor, math vocab in great story line
Missing Math: A Number Mystery by Loreen Leedy
Multi-Concept Resources: See list below.
My Even Day by Doris Fisher
My Full Moon is Square ► by Elinor J. Pinczes - Introduction to square numbers
Number Families Srivastava, Jane Jonas/Ehlert, Lois 1979 Number series – similar to the Young Math books
Number Ideas Through Pictures (Young Math Books) by Mannis Charosh 1974 Odd/even,square/triangular numbers. Unusual presentation of number concepts, dated but very useful for me.
Ocean Counting: Odd Numbers Y ► by Jerry Pallotta – lovely book
Odds and Evens by Thomas C. O'Brien
One Odd Day by Doris Fisher
A Place for Zero: A Math Adventure ► by Angeline Sparagna Lopresti
Sea Squares ► Y Hulme, Joy - Beautiful intro to squaring with marine animals, not busy like many others, for younger kids but could appeal to older kids with artwork
This is 4: The Idea of a Number , Razzell & Watts, 1964, relationships with “4”
Three: An Emberley Family Sketchbook Ed, Rebecca & Michael Emberley
Tic Tac Toe: Three In A Row by Judith Bauer Stamper, Hello Math L. 1
Twice Upon a Time ► by Irwin Shapiro, really nice story line, older book, twice as much is not always twice as good :o). Proportions.
Underwater Counting: Even Numbers ► by Jerry Pallotta, counts up to 50 by evens, nice book
What's a Pair? What's a Dozen? Y Stephen Swinburne, nice pictures, clean and simple
Zero: Is It Something? Is It Nothing?
Zero is Not Nothing by Mindel and Harry Sitomer
Multi-Concept Resources: These resources cover many math concepts, including number properties and number families, negative numbers and properties of zero:
The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Catand Further Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat by Theoni Pappas ► – numerous math concepts explored in each chapter
Big Ideas for Small Mathematicians: Kids Discovering the Beauty of Math with 22 Ready-to-Go Activities by Ann Kajander, activities
The Cat in Numberland by Ivar Ekeland and John O'Brien ► This is one of our most-loved read-alouds, fun book!
Cyberchase ► PBS show, hugely popular and valuable 30 minutes - ages 4 to 10 ish? Some fun but heavy duty math!
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales by Theoni Pappas,. Many math concepts, lots with topology, logic and problem solving, wide age range appeal
Go Figure!: A Totally Cool Book About Numbers by Johnny Ball, nice photos and graphics
Historical Connections in Mathematics Volumes 1, 2 and 3 by Wilbert and Luetta Reimer - Activity books that go along with the Mathematicians Are People, Too series, published by AIMS Education
I Hate Mathematics! (Brown Paper School Books) Burns, Marilyn/Weston, Martha - Genl math/math history. Classic
I Love Math Series, Timelife ► - There are 13 of these multi-concept books, each with themes ranging from sports and nature to space and the mall. They are out of print, but still available. See the "I Love Math" page for the list of books with brief descriptions. These may be the most read math readers in our home library over the past decade. Try The Mystery of the Sunken Treasure: Sea Math and others.
The Journey of Al & Gebra to the Land of Algebra by Bethanie H. Tucker
Math Curse ► Scieszka, Jon/Smith, Lane 1995 Number series. Abstract, in your face humor, classic, wide appeal to all ages
Math for Smarty Pants, a Brown Paper School book ► by Marilyn Burns – this one is for approximately 4rd grade on up. TONS of different math ideas in this.
Math Smart Junior: Grade School Math Made Easy (Princeton Smart Juniors Grades 6 to 8) ► Lerner, Marcia Princeton Review, 1995 dumb name but great story math book for upper elem, my son read this repeatedly, for older kids (concepts start at addition and move to early algebra)
Math Smart Junior II: More Math Made Easy (Princeton Review Series) by Paul Foglino (for upper elem / middle school) – topics not covered in Math Smart I including history, words and numbers, metric system, number bases
Math Wizardry for Kids by Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams- activities, stories, games
Murderous Maths (don’t forget the ‘s’) ► by Kjartan Poskitt, Guaranteed to contain no nasty exercises and no boring sums! These are meaty books and adults that enjoy comics could enjoy them too.
Playing with Infinity: Mathematical Explorations and Excursions by Rózsa Péter – High school on up level, but starts at the beginning with addition concepts building up to infinity for older readers / adults. Nice explanation of negative numbers.
The Joy of Mathematics: Discovering Mathematics All Around You ► Pappas, Theoni. Math in nature/science/art,music,history,literature - classic
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure ► Enzensberger, Hans Magnus/Berner, Rotraut Susanne. Multi-concepts, cute illustrations. Fun classic, very wide appeal, can be read aloud to even very young kids
The Story of 1 ► (PBS Home Video) One hour well presented video on the history of the number 1. Available at Blockbuster, Netflix and many libraries. Also can be found online at Google Video.
Send in your favorite reader
that you don't see on this list.