The books in this list can be used in the Early Years to explore a variety of different areas of mathematics. You can see other collections of books, including the full list of books recommended by the NRICH team, on our Bookcase Maths page.

The Great Pet Sale
This book tells the story of a pet shop where lots of animals are for sale at a variety of prices - but which will the boy choose?

Who Sank the Boat?

How Big is a Million?
Pipkin is a small penguin who asks big questions. He wants to know how big a million is! He finds ten fish, a hundred penguins in a huddle and a thousand snowflakes... but will he find a million of anything?

Titch

Billy’s Bucket

Anno's Counting Book
Explore how a village changes over twelve seasons in this beautiful watercolour counting book.

Biscuit Bear

Handa's Hen

Ten Apples Up On Top
In this captivating rhyming story, a dog, a lion and a tiger all try to balance ten apples on their heads while tightrope walking and roller skating!

Dear Zoo

One Gorilla: A Counting Book

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Pete the cat wears his favourite shirt with four groovy buttons. But what happens when one of the buttons pops off and rolls away? This story introduces children to subtraction number sentences.

Cook It!

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Kipper's Toybox
Kipper counts out all of his favourite toys, but the number he gets isn't the number he was expecting... are all of Kipper's favourite toys in the box?

Five Minutes' Peace
Mrs Large the elephant wants five minutes' peace away from her three children... but they keep interrupting her!

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs

Dog's Colourful Day
Dog is white with one black spot on his left ear. Throughout the day, Dog gets very messy, and by the end he is covered with lots of different coloured spots! Can you count them all?

The Bad-Tempered Ladybird
The bad-tempered ladybird tries to fight bigger and bigger animals throughout the day - but will it win a fight against the biggest animal of all?

Abigail

Balancing Act
This book builds on children's experience of seesaws and balancing. Join the two mice who make a seesaw (or teeter totter) and see what happens as their friends hop on too.

One to Ten and Back Again

Walter's Wonderful Web
Walter the spider wants to spin a perfect web, so he tries making webs of different shapes and sizes. Will he end up with a wonderful web?

Mouse Count

The Secret Birthday Message
On the night before Tim's birthday, he finds a secret message under his pillow! Can you work out what the different shapes in the message mean to help Tim find his birthday present?

Ten Black Dots

Color Zoo
When we turn the page to remove a layer, what animal will the picture show now? And what shape will be removed? Have a look at the colour zoo to find out!

Maisy Goes Camping

I Spy Numbers

Grandpa's Quilt
Grandpa is so long and thin that his quilt doesn't cover his toes. This story tells of his grandchildren's attempts to change the shape of the quilt so he is toasty from head to foot.

One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab
This 'counting by feet' book offers opportunities to focus on counting and introduce multiplication with its entertaining illustrations.

Lucy in the City
Lucy the raccoon is in the city one night looking for food with her family. But when they leave her behind by mistake, she has to find her way home with the help of a friendly owl who gives her directions.

The Doorbell Rang
Ma has made plenty of cookies for her children, but then the doorbell rings. And rings... And rings... This book is perfect for discussing sharing equally.

Henry's Map
Henry the pig likes knowing exactly where everything is. But when he looks out of the window, the farm is a mess! Follow Henry's story as he draws a map to show where everything in the farm should be.

The Shopping Basket
With Steven having to fend off various animals on his way back from the shops, he arrives home with fewer items than his mum requested. This book is a great context in which to count, and in particular to talk about 'one less'.

Rosie's Walk
This simple but captivating story uses positional language to describe Rosie the hen's walk. Rosie is wonderfully oblivious to the fact she is being pursued!

Handa's Surprise
Handa carries a basket of seven different fruits to her friend. As she makes her journey, seven different animals each steal a fruit from her basket! This richly illustrated book is an engaging context in which children can explore the concept of 'one less'.
