March 15, 2023
To support math and STEM understanding, a variety books can help teachers at preK–grade 4 provide meaningful conversations with their students by integrating mathematical understandings through children’s literature. These books are among teachers’ favorites.
Circle Dogs, written by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, explores shapes through a day in the life of two dachshunds. A perfect read-aloud for a geometry unit that can be paired with Hot Dog (below) to help students make text-to-text connections.
Bean Thirteen, written and illustrated by Matthew McElligott, explores the concept of division with the tribulations that the two characters encounter as they work their way through a problem. A great way to engage children in discussions of trying to work through problem solving.
The 2023 Caldecott winner, Hot Dog, written and illustrated by Doug Salati, explores a day in the life of a dog as children are taken on an adventure throughout an urban setting to find solitude for the owner and the dog in a noisy city. A wonderful way to look at mapping.
A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, focuses on the creation of books by the Indigenous people of Mexico, exploring their knowledge, culture, and history. Readers can dig deeply into the illustrations and see how precise measurement, geometry, and special relationships of mathematical concepts enhance the telling of this story.