Category: Maths books reviews

Mister Magnolia

Written in the 1980s this is a great little story that is excellent for encouraging understanding of pairs and odd and even numbers. In this book Mr Magnolia leads a really happy life apart from one rather strange thing – he only has one boot. Written more or less as nonsense verse it appeals to children with imagination as he has a number of very strange possessions, including a frog, a toad and a newt, some exotic birds a big purple dinosaur who’s a magnificent brute.

Quentin Blake is, of course, one of our best known illustrators, having illustrated over 300 books, including many of Roald Dahl’s.

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

To celebrate World Book Day, a few words about one of my favourite books for young children to help them with their maths.

Whatever you do, don’t miss this book if you have young children about to enter school. A counting book, in this case counting down from ten toes, nine friends etc as a father and young daughter get ready for bed.

The characters are interesting, an African-American family, and the warm colours of the illustrations really are a delight. Each page has a warm, comforting glow, perfect for a bedtime story.

I know of several children who have memorised the whole book – always a good sign!

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins.
A great writer of children’s picture books, Pat Hutchins has created a wonderfully simple book which helps with the very earliest understanding of sharing. Mum has made 12 scrumptious cookies for her two children – obviously they are going to get lots each. They count them and find that they are going to get six each but then the doorbell rings and friends arrive to share the cookies. Each time the doorbell rings there is less for each child until they are down to only one each. Then the doorbell rings again!!

Cockatoos (Red Fox Picture Books)

Another great book from Quentin Blake which will help children with their counting. The star of the book is a very fuddy duddy old chap called Professor Dupont. His day never changes; every morning washing, dressing, putting on his tie, going downstairs etc etc he sticks to the same routine which includes welcoming his ten cockatoos with exactly the same phrase every day,
“Good morning, my fine feathered friends!”
Now, the cockatoos are very, very bored with this routine and one day decide to play a trick on Professor Dupont. When he opens the conservatory doors to say good morning they have all gone!
The rest of the book is for the reader to find each of them, because the Prof just cannot find them.
Of course there is a happy ending. Some parents might themselves find this a little tedious but in my experience children (2 – 5) certainly don’t, so if you haven’t already, sit down and read it with them.

Two by Two by Barbara Reid
This book is a real must for any parent who loves sitting down and looking at books with their young children. Written in rhymes to tell the story of Noah’s Ark you will find your child returning again and again to their favourite pages.
One of the best aspects of the book is the amazing 3-D sculptured animals, but the book can be enjoyed in a number of ways. The rhymes can be read or sung and children can soon learn them or just look at the animals and talk about them and the tricks they get up to.
The animals come in two by two, three by three, four by four etc so it is easy to incorporate a little maths.

Seven Dizzy Dragons and Other Maths Rhymes by Sue Atkinson

‘Big books’ tend to be used only in schools as they are great for a teacher to sit with the class and look at the story. They also tend to be quite expensive and not easily available in book shops. This great book can be purchased as a ‘Big Book’ or as a paperback, but it is not easy to find.

However, I have put ‘Seven Dizzy Dragons and Other Maths Rhymes’ in my collection as it really is a great set of rhymes.
It contains 28 counting and number rhymes, including counting up in ones, twos, threes, and so on, odd and even numbers, patterns of numbers, ordinal numbers, number bonds to ten, and early addition and subtraction.

There are lots of ways to enjoy this book including learning and reciting the rhymes together and it is a great resource to help with early counting and number.

Jim and the Beanstalk (Puffin Picture Books)

This is a rewrite of the famous Jack tale by Raymond Briggs. Just like Jack, Jim wakes up to find a tall plant growing outside his house. He climbs up to the top where there is a huge house. A very old giant lives in the house – not the nasty sort of giant in the traditional tale, but an unhappy one who no longer eats three boys on toast for breakfast! Jim gets the giant some large glasses, giant false teeth and a very red wig!

The ending is lovely and there is some great mathematical language in this book, mainly to do with size and shape. Perfect for 3 to 5 years old.

Why not take your child through an imaginary climb up the beanstalk to meet the giant?

Teddybears Go Shopping (Picture Hippo)
Storybooks that are great for maths from mathsblog.co.uk

Making lists is an important part of the data handling strand of the Primary Framework for Maths and there is hardly a better example of list making than Teddybears Go Shopping by Susanna Gretz and  Alison Sage.
The shopping list is very much like a song and encourages children to repeat it –great for encouraging the memory! However, all does not go exactly to plan at the supermarket as William and the rest of the bears go shopping!
Children of all ages love this book – well worth reading!

Mr.Wolf’s Week
Mr Wolf’s Week by Colin Hawkins is an old favourite and one of the best versions is the mini-pop up.
In this book the wolf is not very threatening, perhaps almost friendly in appearance.  It is a brightly coloured book which leads you through a week in the life of Mr Wolf. He wears different clothes each day of the week which co-incide with the type of weather. It rains on Mondays so he takes an umbrella with him etc  etc. The pages are really brightly coloured and funny.
Good for talking about the days of the week in the right sequence as well as talking about the weather.
There is not a lot of writing on the pages, but the illustrations give plenty of ideas to talk about, which is probably why it is a favourite in classrooms.

The Shopping Basket (Red Fox picture book)

The Shopping Basket by John Burningham is a great little book which will be thoroughly enjoyed by young children whilst at the same time helping them with counting and subtraction. Steven is a little boy who is asked by his mum to go round to the local corner shop, taking the shopping basket with him to bring back 6 eggs, five bananas, four apples….etc. The scenario will be familiar to many children as a trip round to the corner shop is often the first time they are allowed out alone by their parents. However, this is not an ordinary trip to the shops as Steven meets all kinds of dangers on the way. These dangers come in the form of animals such as a bear, a monkey and a kangaroo,  demanding the contents of his shopping basket. Steven deals with the dangers in a variety of ways and arrives home safely – but will his heroic efforts be appreciated? John Burningham is one of the best writers of children’s books and this is one of his best – humourous, well illustrated and not to be missed.