The 5 Best Math Picture Books

Are you looking to incorporate more literature into your math block? These are 5 of the best math picture books to inspire young mathematicians!

The Math Curse

Did you ever wake up to one of those days where everything is a problem? You have 10 things to do, but only 30 minutes until your bus leaves. Is there enough time? You have 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants. Can you make 1 good outfit? Then you start to wonder: Why does everything have to be such a problem? Why do 2 apples always have to be added to 5 oranges? Why do 4 kids always have to divide 12 marbles? Why can’t you just keep 10 cookies without someone taking 3 away? Why? Because you’re a victim of the Math Curse. That’s why. But don’t despair. This is one girl’s story of how that curse can be broken.

You can find this book on amazon by clicking HERE. 

I love using this book so much that I created 4 critical thinking challenges to accompany it. Best of all, they are only $1! Seriously! Click HERE to check them out. 

Pigeon Math

Telling a story about pigeons should be simple. But what’s a narrator to do when the number of feathered friends is constantly changing?

Can our intrepid storyteller use math facts to keep up with the unstable quantities. . . or is this pigeon-centric tale doomed?

You can find this super clever book on amazon by clicking HERE. 

One activity that I love to complete after reading this book is having students create their own word problem story books. If this is an activity that you are interested in, click HERE to download it for FREE on TPT.

The Girl With a Mind for Math

After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an engineer. Little did she know sexism and racial inequality would challenge that dream every step of the way, even keeping her greatest career accomplishment a secret for decades. Through it all, the gifted mathematician persisted―finally gaining her well-deserved title in history: a pioneer who changed the course of ship design forever.

You can find this book on amazon by clicking HERE. 

I love incorporating this book into math classes because it is a narrative nonfiction text that does a fantastic job of highlighting to students some of the amazing accomplishments that people have achieved through their mathematical knowledge and know how.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into this beautiful narrative nonfiction book, I highly suggest using my Interactive Read Aloud prompts. These activities will help students to better understand the vocabulary, characters and timeline of the book. Using this text as both a Math mentor text AND as a tool for Language Arts provides amazing cross curricular connections, saving you valuable instructional minutes. 

Click HERE to check out the Interactive Read Aloud for “The Girl With a Mind for Math”. 

Lion’s Share

When Ant receives a special invitation to dine with Lion, she is ready to be on her best behavior. During dessert, the other guests do not mind their manners, and by the time the dessert cake reaches Ant, barely a crumb is left for her to share with the King! Baking a cake seems like the perfect way to make it up to him . . . until the other guests turn her kind gesture into a contest. Exactly how many cakes are fit for a king?

You can find this book on amazon by clicking HERE.

This hilarious math picture book is a great way to launch your Multiplication or Division Units. Students will find the story hilarious and it leads to some good conceptual understanding. 

Seeing Symmetry

Once you start looking, you can find symmetry all around you. Symmetry is when one shape looks the same if you flip, slide, or turn it. It’s in words and even letters. It’s in both nature and man-made things. In fact, art, design, decoration, and architecture are full of it. This clear and concise book explains different types of symmetry and shows you how to make your own symmetrical masterpieces. Notes and glossary are included.

You can find this book on amazon by clicking HERE.

Symmetry can be a tricky concept for students to understand. However, by starting your unit with this beautiful book, kids will already possess tons of examples of symmetry. 

I hope that you found at least one new math picture book that you can use in your classroom. Click HERE to check out all of my Math products on TPT to find an accompanying resource.