Large Numbers, Exponents, Infinity, nested values
► A family favorite of ours. Y = for the youngest kids
Suggest a reader for this list
A Million Dots by Andrew Clements
Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar ► Anno, Masaichiro & Mitsumasa 1983 Size, perspective, counting, nesting, factorials. Beautifully illustrated, surprising in simplicity and complexity, a classic for a wide audience
Arm in Arm: A Collection of Connections, Endless Tales, Reiterations, and Other Echolalia ► Charlip, Remy1969 Paradox, infinite loopsHumorous plays on words, this one is for all ages
Big Numbers by Edward Packard - visuals of powers of 10 using peas, comic style. The companion book, Little Numbers And Pictures That Show Just How Little They Are! is also recommended
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales Pappas, Theoni 1993 Many math concepts, lots with topology, logic and problem solving, wide age range appeal
Great Estimations and Greater Estimations by Bruce Goldstone
Hooray for Me! by Remy Charlip. Relationships, nesting ideas.
How Big Is A Million? Y by Anna Milborne
How Much Is a Million? ► Schwartz, David A. Younger book than the others, additional text and explanation at the back.
Images of Infinity by Leapfrogs Group
Infinity, What Is It? (Math Concept Book) by Marnie Luce, Explains and gives examples of the mathematical concept of infinity.
Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? ► Robert Wells, Excellent intro to comparative sizes and *why* we have large numbers
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag, this book is a classic
On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey ► Schwartz, David A./Meisel 1999 Large nos, exponents. Picture book with comics
One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale ► by Demi, similar to The King's Chessboard, but set in India, exponential doubling, outstanding illustrations w/foldout pages for the largest numbers
512 Ants On Sullivan Street (Level 4) ► by Carol A. Losi - doubling exponentially
The Joy of Pi ► David Blatner, for middle school on up, nice little book
The King's Chessboard ► Birch, David/Grebu. Doubling exponentially (therefore intro to base 2). Based on historical tale
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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
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid ► Hofstadter, Douglas R. – Advanced but an interested child can read it, more for adults, math in many contexts, Pulitzer Prize Winner Classic
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
The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking , by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - hs+ level, featured lecturers of the Joy of Thinking series I value very highly - I'll post more info on the book when I get it
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