MATH LITERACY RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN

Arithmetic

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . New York: William Morrow and Company, 1992. Ages 9-12.
In addition to meeting talking rabbits and disappearing cats, Alice tries to recall multiplication facts to see if she remembers what she used to know.

Dodds, Dayle Ann. Minnie’s Diner . Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2004. Ages 5-9.
Minnie needs to use multiplication when five boys and their father come to her diner when each successive order doubles in size.
McElligot, Matthew. Bean Thirteen. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007. Ages 5-9.
By using division, two bugs named Ralph and Flora try to get rid of unlucky bean thirteen.

Pinczes, Elinor J. A Remainder of One. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Ages 4-8.
When the queen of the bugs demands that her army march in even lines, Private Joe divides the marchers into more and more lines so that he will not be left out of the parade.

Pittman, Helena Clare. A Grain of Rice . New York: Hastings, 1986. Ages 6-9.
A peasant named Pong Lo uses rice and his knowledge of multiplication in order to marry the Emperor of China’s daughter.

Reynolds, Aaron. Superhero School. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009. Ages 5-9.
Leonard and his classmates use multiplication, division, and fractions to fight the ice zombies.

Multiplying by nine using your hands video

Fractions

Dodds, Dayle Ann. Full House: an invitation to fractions . Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2007. Ages 4-8.
When Miss Bloom’s five guests at the Strawberry Inn decide to have cake in the middle of the night, she uses fractions to divide the cake evenly.

Markel, Michelle. Tyrannosaurus Math. Berkeley, Calif.: Tricycle Press, 2009. Ages 5-8.
A dinosaur named T-Math uses fractions to determine how many hadrosaurs he and his two siblings could eat.

Nagda, Ann Whitehead. Polar Bear Math: learning about fractions from Klondike and Snow. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2004. Ages 8-11.
The Denver Zoo staff raises two abandoned polar bear cubs. Fractions show how their milk is prepared, how much and how often they are fed, and how much weight they have gained.

Math made easy: introduction to fractions video

Geometry

Burns, Marilyn. Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! New York: Scholastic, 1997. Ages 6-9.
The seating for a family reunion gets complicated; using area and perimeter, the ever-arriving guests rearrange the tables and chairs using area and perimeter so everyone can have a place to sit.

Ellis, Julie. What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? Mass.: Charlesbridge, 2004. Ages 8-12.
In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras discovers a special number pattern and uses it to solve problems involving right triangles.

Murphy, Stuart J. Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes. New York: Harper Collins, 2001. Ages 6-9.
Captain Invincible uses three-dimensional shapes to navigate past obstacles in space on his journey back to Earth.

All about shapes: basic geometry video

Measurement

Pelley, Kathleen T. Magnus Maximus, a marvelous measurer. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010. Ages 5-9.
Magnus Maximus measures and counts everything in his town...even an escaped circus lion!

Pinczes, Elinor J. Inchworm and a Half. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Ages 4-8.
A worm uses measurement to determine the size of the vegetables in his garden.

Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Ninth Ward. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2010. Ages 10-13.
Stuck in the attic with her grandmother in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, 12-year-old Lanesha uses estimation to determine how fast the water is rising through the house and up the attic stairs.

Metric and standard measurement systems video

Money

Paulsen, Gary. Lawn Boy. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2007. Ages 9-12.
A twelve-year-old boy learns about earning money and investing it in the stock market when his lawn cutting business becomes overwhelmingly successful.

Roy, Jennifer Rozines and Gregory Roy. Money at the Store . New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2007. Ages 5-8.
Two children go to a grocery store and use money to buy items on their list.

Wesley, Valerie Wilson. Willimena and the Cookie Money . New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, 2001. Ages 7-10.
Although Willimena used her Girl Scout money in a good cause, to buy food for those twins who had no lunch money, she still has to pay it back. Her older sister helps her sell lemonade and Willimena stages a neighborhood pet show.

Counting money video

Probability

Enzensberger, Hans Magnus. The Number Devil . New York: Henry Holt, 1998. Ages 9-12.
Twelve-year-old Robert dreams that he is in a magical land hosted by a “Number Devil”. One of Robert’s lessons requires the use of probability to choose four people for a broom brigade.

Leedy, Loreen. It’s Probably Penny. New York: Holiday House, 2007. Ages 6-9.
For homework, Lisa must make predictions using probability about what will, might, and can’t happen over the weekend.

Murphy, Stuart J. Probably Pistachio. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2001. Ages 6-8.
Jack uses probability to determine when his streak of bad luck will break.