Counting on a good read: maths books we love for World Book Day

We asked members of the NCETM team to share their favourite maths-related books for both adults and children—those that inspire, challenge and deepen our understanding of mathematics. We’ve also picked out a couple of recommendations made by past guests on the NCETM Maths Podcast.

Books for younger children

Sue Evans, NCETM Assistant Director for Primary
Mouse and Elephant – An Vrombaut
‘I love a maths story! Used carefully and intentionally, they enhance maths teaching. This book helped my Year 1 pupils explore comparison, introducing key mathematical language ahead of teaching.

'It gave me an opportunity to see what language children already knew in relation to size, and to introduce language to children ahead of the teaching – Elephant couldn’t go ballooning because he was ‘too heavy’ but Mouse couldn’t fly a kite because she was ‘too light’. Mouse couldn’t play basketball because she was ‘too short’ but Elephant was tall enough to be good at it!’

Rooster’s Off to See the World – Eric Carle
‘Can I have two books?! I also like Eric Carle’s books. Obviously, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is lovely for that ‘growing’ pattern of numbers and links numbers with quantities, but Rooster’s Off to See the World is less well-known and represents the linear number system in a way that is similar to the ‘staircase’ pattern of the Numberblocks.’

Sue Madgwick, NCETM Deputy Director
One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab – April Pulley Sayre and Jeffrey Sayre, illustrated by Randy Cecil
‘With beautiful illustrations, this book encourages children (and adults) to explore counting, grouping and decomposition of numbers by looking at how many feet different creatures have. It invites creative thinking beyond rote memorisation.’

Vivien Townsend, NCETM Assistant Director of Evaluation and Impact
365 Penguins – Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet
'This is a beautifully illustrated, funny story that appeals to pupils across the primary phase. In brief, a family receives a penguin in the post every day for a year, and each page of the book follows them managing the ever-changing situation.

'Unlike some story books where the maths feels very forced, here it is perfectly integral to the story: for example, the family has to count, feed and work out how to store the penguins! The book lends itself very well to a whole-school maths day—or a maths-themed World Book Day—because there are potential activities for all year groups to engage in. It is the maths story book I wish I’d written!’

Rebecca Fisher, NCETM Communications Manager
‘I’ve picked two very different stories!'

A New House for Mouse – Petr Horáček
'Mouse is searching for a new house that is big enough for her and her apple. The story encourages lots of problem-solving and logical thinking skills, as children reason about why the apple may or may not fit in the different animals’ homes. (Spoiler: her own home is the perfect size – once she only has the core left!).'

Ten Little Dinosaurs – Mike Brownlow, illustrated by Simon Rickerty
'Every Reception cohort I taught loved this book! The story and illustrations engage children in mathematical thinking, covering elements of number sense such as one-to-one correspondence, cardinality, subtraction and pattern recognition. It's also full of rhyme, repetition and interactive cues.’

Becky Donaldson, NCETM Assistant Director for Secondary
‘These are both books I’ve loved sharing with my kids, who enjoy them despite my incredibly cringy ‘voices’ for the main characters.'

Mrs McTats and her Houseful of Cats – Alyssa Satin Capucilli
'This story is a firm favourite in our house. Mrs McTats cannot help but welcome more and more cats into her cosy cottage, naming them alphabetically as they arrive. As a mathematician, I particularly love that the cats initially arrive in the triangular number sequence (if only there were 28 letters in the alphabet!).’

Bricks – Katie Cotton
‘I absolutely love this clever take on the Three Little Pigs story. A greedy pig tries to cheat his builders out of their hard-earned cash, but unluckily for him they’ve got mathematical reasoning on their side. There are not many picture books that can also teach important lessons about ratio, precise mathematical language and specifying the value of the ‘whole’ (as well featuring every six-year-old’s favourite line: ‘he stopped to scratch his bum and stretch’).’

Grace Coker, EEF Maths Content Specialist and NCETM podcast guest
Ten Rubber Ducks – Eric Carle
‘A storybook that my four-year-old daughter and I enjoy reading is Ten Rubber Ducks. We love counting the rubber ducks together to check that ten really did fall overboard. It’s a lovely way to explore ordinal numbers too, with engaging illustrations and a fun ending—my daughter loves making the rubber duck squeak!’

• LISTEN: Grace joined the NCETM Maths Podcast episode on Maths Games, where she highlighted the EEF’s recommendations on how maths can be integrated through books, puzzles, songs and games into young children’s daily lives. Listen on your podcast app or on our website.

Books for older readers

Charlie Stripp, NCETM Director
Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction – Timothy Gowers 
‘This is an accessible and fascinating book that reveals the beauty, power and usefulness of maths. It explains what it means to think mathematically, offering clear explanations of abstract ideas and proofs that highlight the power of mathematical thinking.’

Sue Madgwick, NCETM Deputy Director
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid – Douglas Hofstadter
‘This book explores the work of mathematician Kurt Gödel, artist M.C. Escher and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and has been with me for several decades. It compares key ideas in maths, art and music and challenges my thinking every time I dip into it.’

Paul Rowlandson, Assistant Director of School and Professional Development
It All Adds Up – Michael Launay
‘This book provides a comprehensive history of mathematics, written in a very easy-reading narrative style. It tells stories about the people behind mathematical breakthroughs and how their work was received at the time; for example, poor Hippasus was rejected and drowned by the Pythagoreans for his discovery of irrational numbers. It also makes links between the countries where mathematical developments were occurring and the history of civilization and empires.’

Carol Knights, NCETM Director for Secondary
Grounde of Artes – Robert Recorde (1543)
‘This is notable for being the first maths textbook written in English and I love it partly because I admire the philosophy of the author. Recorde wanted to bring maths to the people at a time when education was the preserve of the wealthy and educational publications were written in Latin—which effectively served to further exclude ‘the masses’.

'The book is written in the style of the Ancients, with the voices of ‘Master’ and ‘Scholar’ used to consider concepts and approaches to calculations. Exploring these methods is fascinating and was the basis for a number of my lessons where the intention was to understand how methods worked and to prove why they worked.’

Professor Nathalie Sinclair, NCETM Maths Podcast guest
Mathematics for Human Flourishing – Francis Su
‘I really like the work of mathematician Francis Su and his book Mathematics for Human Flourishing, where he explores how maths connects with human desires—friendships, love, and connection. Mathematics is not just about solving real-world problems; it is deeply intertwined with the human experience.’

• LISTEN: Nathalie shared this recommendation on the NCETM Maths Podcast episode with Professor Alf Coles, where they discussed their book, I Can’t Do Maths! Listen on your podcast app or on our website.

These books showcase the richness of mathematics—from inspiring conceptual thinking to embedding foundational understanding in Early Years. What are your favourite maths books? Find us on X, Bluesky, LinkedIn or Facebook and share them with us this World Book Day!