The books in this list can be used across the Primary years to explore different aspects of number. You can see other collections of books, including the full list of books recommended by the NRICH team, on our Bookcase Maths page.
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'.
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 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?
Ten Black Dots
What can you do with ten black dots? Lots of things! Follow the pictures and count the dots in each one, all the way up to ten.
Who Sank the Boat?
In this book, five animals get into a boat - but which animal causes the boat to sink?
Maisy Goes Camping
Maisy and her friends put up a tent to go camping in. But how many of them can fit in the tent at once?
Billy's Bucket
Billy can see all kinds of amazing things in his bucket, including seven sea lions and a walrus. His parents think he just has a big imagination - but when they borrow his bucket, they're in for a surprise!
I Spy Numbers
In this book, each photograph contains a big numeral from 1 to 9 surrounded by lots of small objects. Can you see how each object is related to the number in the middle?
Infinity and Me
Uma wonders about the idea of infinity. What does it mean? How can we imagine infinity? This book talks about the idea of infinity in lots of different ways.
Handa's Hen
Handa's hen has gone missing! While she's looking for her hen, Handa finds lots of groups of animals that she can count - two butterflies, three mice, four lizards...
One Gorilla: A Counting Book
One gorilla, two orangutans, three chimpanzees... This counting to ten book focuses on members of the primate family.
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
This book offers a context in which to count to 10 using pictures of children from all over the world, as well as the reader's own fingers and toes.
The Rabbit Problem
This picture book looks at the number of rabbits in Fibonacci's field as they have more and more babies throughout the year!
Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
Ten terrible dinosaurs standing in a line, soon began to mess about, until there were... nine! Find out what happens as the dinosaurs leave, one by one, until there is just one dinosaur left.
365 Penguins
On the morning of New Year's Day, a delivery arrives. When the box is opened, it turns out there's a penguin inside! Every day for the rest of the year, a new penguin is delivered, which causes the family some problems...
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?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
In this engaging classic picture book, children are invited to use their fingers to explore the numbers up to five.
Anno's Counting Book
Explore how a village changes over twelve seasons in this beautiful watercolour counting book.
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.
Abigail
Abigail loves to count. She tries to count the dots on the ladybug and the zebra's stripes, but they won't stay still! Will Abigail find something she can count?
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.
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!
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'.
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.
The Number Devil
Robert hates everything to do with numbers. Then one night, he meets the number devil in his dreams, and he learns that numbers can be much more interesting than he ever imagined...
One to Ten and Back Again
The colourful pictures in this book tell the story of two friends, Nick and Sue, who show us all their favourite things by counting them from one to ten and back.
Einstein, The Girl Who Hated Maths
Einstein is a girl who hates maths, but she likes cats - and it turns out maths can be useful in lots of situations, including calculating how many lives her cats have! This book contains a variety of different poems, both about Einstein and about lots of other mathematical ideas.
Mouse Count
One fine day, ten little mice took a nap in a meadow. Along came a hungry snake, who counted the mice into a jar for his dinner. How will the mice escape?
The Phantom Tollbooth
In this story, Milo goes on an adventure to the strange lands of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis - but can he rescue Rhyme and Reason so that everything starts making sense again?
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?