Math: Side by SideNotice More. Wonder Together.Literacy, math & a little shared wonder
Read a picture book with a mathematical idea at its heart. Notice the pictures, wonder about the quantities, and make sense of the story together.
Picture books with a math theme
Choose a grade band for book suggestions, mathematical connections, and a question to start with. Ask your library for a title that catches your child’s interest.
These bands are suggestions for shared reading. Choose by your child’s interests and the math you want to explore; revisit a familiar picture book with a deeper question anytime.
PreK–K · 6 books to explore
Count a collection, compare sizes, and describe shapes. Pictures give everyone a way into the math.
Counting · Parts of 10
Story → math A snake gathers ten mice, and the mice find a way to escape. Follow how the collection grows and changes.
Use ten counters as mice and a drawn circle as the jar. Move some out, hide the rest, and work out the missing part together.
Shapes · Curves & circles
Story → math A child finds roundness throughout the natural world. Use the illustrations to compare flat circles with rounded objects.
Gather a lid, a ball, and a paper circle. Compare their edges and surfaces, then find something in the book that reminds you of each.
Measurement · Building & counting
Story → math Elephant builds towers to match its own height. Turning and rearranging the blocks changes how many are needed.
Build one tower with blocks standing tall and another with blocks lying flat. Line up the bottoms before comparing their heights.
Counting · Comparing quantities
Story → math A fox’s visit to a henhouse unfolds through numbers and pictures. Small collections lead to a much larger surprise.
Choose a small pictured group and build a matching group with counters. Spread the counters out and ask whether the amount changed.
Geometry · Composing shapes
Story → math Three mice turn a collection of shapes into pictures and a clever plan. Look at how smaller shapes combine to make something new.
Use paper shapes to make two different animals. Point out the shapes in each, then rearrange the same pieces into something new.
Patterns · Repeating units
Story → math Bugs move and make sounds in repeating patterns. The pictures and page borders offer another way to see the repetition.
Build a repeating pattern with two kinds of blocks. Have a partner name the repeating part, extend it, and make a sound pattern with the same structure.
Grades 1–2 · 6 books to explore
Explore joining and separating, groups of equal size, and the shapes hiding in everyday places.
Addition · Grouping & tens
Story → math The feet of snails, people, and other animals become ways to build numbers. Keep track of feet as the unit you are counting.
Draw two beach scenes with twenty feet each. Write an addition equation for each scene and explain which part matches each animal.
Addition & subtraction · Change
Story → math Pigeons keep leaving and returning to a wire. The changing scene gives a reason to add, subtract, and keep track.
Draw a wire and place ten counters on it. Invent a page where some pigeons leave and some return; tell the math story before writing an equation.
Geometry · Seeing yourself in math
Story → math A girl’s favorite way to see the world is through math. Her discoveries invite readers to notice shapes and patterns in familiar places.
Make a one-page picture book called “The Math I Notice.” Draw something from home or a walk and label the mathematical idea you found.
Equal groups · Early multiplication
Story → math A class draws twelve things in many arrangements. Compare equal groups and rows while keeping the total in view.
Arrange twelve counters in equal rows. Describe the number of rows and the number in each row, then connect the picture to repeated addition.
Skip-counting · Equal groups
Story → math Clarissa’s counting brings sheep, alpacas, llamas, and yaks into her room. Their groups make counting by twos, fives, and tens meaningful.
Arrange twenty counters into pairs, then groups of five, then groups of ten. Count each arrangement and describe how the groups changed while the total stayed the same.
Number sense · Counting strategies
Story → math Photographs of everyday objects invite readers to count in different ways. Compare the groups you see and the strategies that help you keep track.
Arrange a handful of objects for someone else to count. Compare your methods, then rearrange the objects to make one of those methods easier to see.
Grades 3–5 · 6 books to explore
Explore fractions, growing quantities, precise measurement, and data. A shared story can hold a surprisingly big mathematical idea.
Fractions · Halving & doubling
Story → math Dinner guests keep taking half the remaining cake, then compete to offer more cakes. The story makes shrinking parts and growing quantities visible.
Let one paper strip stand for the original cake. Fold it into halves, fourths, and eighths. Keep the original whole visible as you compare the shares.
Doubling · Multiplication & growth
Story → math Rani asks for rice in amounts that double each day. A small beginning becomes a powerful way to investigate a growing pattern.
Make two tables for six days: start both at one, then double in one table and add two in the other. Compare each day and predict day seven.
Measurement · Units & fractions
Story → math This picture book biography follows Fannie Farmer’s work to make recipes precise. Cooking becomes a reason to use consistent units and compare amounts.
Use dry rice and measuring cups to compare one whole cup with halves and fourths. Explain how the pieces make the same amount before scaling a pretend recipe.
Data · Graphs & comparisons
Story → math Charts and illustrations introduce collecting information and representing it. Look at how a graph helps tell a story about a set of data.
Sort a collection of blocks by color, record the counts, and draw a bar graph. Have someone else explain what the graph shows using its title, labels, and scale.
Geometry · Tessellations & discovery
Story → math Marjorie Rice’s curiosity about patterns leads to discoveries about five-sided shapes. Her story connects drawing, persistence, and mathematical investigation.
Trace and cut several copies of one triangle or quadrilateral. Turn and slide them to try to cover a small area. Sketch your arrangement and explain what you notice where corners meet.
Large numbers · Estimation & scale
Story → math Illustrations make enormous quantities feel a little more imaginable. Use the book’s big-number comparisons to explore scale and how estimates are made.
Fill a page with small dots arranged in groups. Count one group and use the number of groups to estimate the total. Explain when that estimate would be reasonable.
Math can be part of the story
Numbers & parts
A picture has five birds in a tree and two on the ground.
Let a drawing or a finger show the parts. Then return to what the birds are doing in the story.
Patterns & prediction
A picture or sentence follows a repeating pattern.
Explain the prediction using the part that repeats. Make a clap or movement pattern of your own.
Measurement & language
Characters carry things that are longer, taller, heavier, or smaller.
Act out a comparison with objects nearby. Talk about which word best describes it.
Shapes & space
An illustration shows a house, a journey, or a hiding place.
Use words like beside, behind, above, and between. Build or sketch part of the scene.
Original examples from Math: Side by Side, connected to the early math categories in DREME’s Reading Together collection.
A little support, side by side
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