What’s the Best Story to Teach Kids Math?

Mouse wants to play tug-o’-war with her friends, but when Bear pulls on the rope, Mouse goes flying!
How can she make the teams equal? The animals try splitting up in different ways, but nothing works until Mouse starts thinking mathematically.
Ask the students what is equal and not equal at their house?

6 has a problem.
Everyone knows that 7 is always after him. Word on the street is that 7 ate 9.
If that’s true, 6’s days are numbered. Lucky for him, Private I is on the case.
But the facts just don’t add up. It’s odd. …

Count down with Pete in this rocking story that makes counting fun!
Pete the Cat is wearing his favorite shirt—the one with the four totally groovy buttons. But when one falls off, does Pete cry? Goodness, no! 
He just keeps on singing his song—after all, what could be groovier than three groovy buttons? 
This book is a winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award.

When counting down from ten to one, a girl and a boy empty the night sky of fireflies as — counting up from one to ten — they fill their jar with them. But once captured, the fireflies’ light flickers and fades, so in a generous goodnight gesture, the children release them.

Luminous pictures and a chant-aloud text combine to make this two-way counting book as joyous and magical as catching fireflies on a summer night.

“12 Ways to Get to 11” is a counting book about decomposing, or breaking apart, the number 11 in various ways.
Each page shows a different combination of objects, such as nine pinecones and two acorns.
The story encourages children to think about counting objects in the world around them.

Is your age more than 5?
Is it less than 10? Eddie’s got to guess. And he doesn’t want to be wrong! Eddie has a booth at the school fair, guessing people’s ages.
He hasn’t guessed wrong yet, but if he does, he gets dunked. 

Rhyming text filled with funny, countable examples shows what it means to take one number away from another. Readers are also introduced to the terminology they’ll encounter as they learn to subtract.

Join Zero on his math adventure as he discovers his place through multiplication.
Zero is lonely in Digitaria. He can’t play Addemup with the other numbers because he has nothing to add. All the other numbers seem to belong and they all have a place, but when zero discovers multiplication he thinks he might have a place there.
He sets out to find King Multiplus who also is curious about what will happen when Zero gets thrown into the mix.
With math and wordplay, A Place for Zero is the perfect introduction to multiplication and number placement.

You can count your way from one, or kunye (KOO-nyeh), to ten, or ishumi (ee-SHOO-mee), in Zulu!
Using simple text, authors Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson introduce South African culture. Learn about many of South Africa’s unique features, from one gold nugget to the six colors on the South African flag. Colorful illustrations bring South Africa to life.

The Doorbell Rang tells the simple story of Sam and Victoria who were just about to sit down and enjoy some fresh cookies when some friends arrive and the four children divide the cookies four ways.
Soon, the doorbell rings again, and then again, and each time the number of cookies per person dwindles.