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As kids read counting books and number books from this big list of foundational math picture books, they begin to develop number sense and numeracy math skills.
Thesebooks make counting and numbers playful and fun. That’s why I like them for children.
What else helps children learn to count? Practice! Practice counting anything and everything — in order starting from one. Count your steps. Count the bricks on the wall. Count the birds. Count everything.
After that, kids need to identify what numbers match the numerals. What does five look like? 5.
Plus, another important concept for children to master is matching the numeral to a group of items. In other words, kids need to match the numeral 3 to three things.
Now, what book should you read first? Let’s consider the following categories:
- Counting from 1 to 10
- Counting from 1 to 100
- Counting Backward
Big List of Counting and Number Books for Kids
Counting from 1 to 10
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Timeless because it’s one of the best-written children’s books of all time. This little caterpillar eats his way to a bigger size, preparing for his cocoon. Readers get to count the food and peek through dye cuts. (You might also like Eric Carle’s 1,2,3 to the Zooand 10 Little Rubber Ducks.)
Trees: A Count and Find Primer by Greg Paprocki
Count the beautiful trees – 1 Mangrove Tree, 2 Banyan Trees, 3 Live Oak Trees, 4 Juniper Trees, all the way to 10 Ponderosa Pine Trees. Detailed, colorful illustrations show people and animals enjoying life amidst the trees — whether camping or fishing, bird watching, or exploring.
Counting with Tiny Cat by Viviane Schwarz
This adorable cat counts her red balls. Can you count along?
Five Little Ducks by Raffi, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey
Five little ducks when out one day. Mother Duck calls them back with a quack quack quack. But only four come back, then three, two, one, and none. In the spring, they come back with their own families. A darling counting book that you can also sing along to.
Five Hiding Ostriches by Barbara Barbieri McGrath, illustrated by Riley Samels
A playful counting and rhyming story about five ostriches who run and hide from a lion. And what will happen when the lion catches them? It’s not what you think! It’s a fun friendship story that toddlers and preschoolers will love.
Stack the CatsI’m a big fan of Ghahremani’s artwork so was thrilled to read her first picture book. Stack the Cats isa playful counting book with gorgeous, eye-catching illustrations of cats doing typical cat things. “One cat sleeps // Two cats climb up and away. //Two cats hide, and two cats seek . . . “
The Pickwicks’ Picnic A Counting Adventure by Carol Brendler, illustrated by Renee Kurilla
Enticing cartoon-like illustrations invite you into this delightful counting adventure. The Pickwicks leave the city in their trusty pickup towards the shore. As they do, they’re passed by 2 blue scooters, 3 squeaky jeeps, and more vehicles until they all get to the box-girder bridge. Which is closed! But not to worry, the Pickwicks unload their picnic on the road and have a wonderful time.
Let’s Count Goats by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jan Thomas
Giggle at these silly goats doing crazy things in rhyming text! Can you count along as the goats add up?
Doggies by Sandra Boynton
Count, howl, and bark with the cutest dogsdrawn by the talentedSandra Boynton. This is a perfect read aloud book with lots of sounds to make. (Also read: One, Two, Three!)
How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague
Mark Teague’s illustrations wonderfully depict theseplayful dinosaurs doing fun things that kids do all day long — playing with blocks, balls, toys and teddy bears! Can you count along?
I Love My Tutu Too! by Ross Burach
Get ready for some funny tongue-twisting counting! Penguin loves her tutu. So do Bear and Ant and Toucan. Count along from 1 to 10 as the story adds friends and– tutus!! “Three tutus. We toucans love tutus too!” When they get to ten, it’s time for a dance party. This is one of those stories that begs to be read aloud…if you can get through it while laughing.
Steam Train, Dream Train 1-2-3 by Sherry Duskey Sherry and Tom Lichenheld
The friends travel by train off to dreamland — one happy bear in the engine car, two best friend giraffes with pillows and books, three rabbits hopping on their bed, and up to ten. This is the perfect going-to-bed companion!
Counting with / Contando Con Frida by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein
Vibrant artwork counts the important things in Frida’s life — paintbrushes, flowers, dresses, and so forth. Phrases are in both English and Spanish.
One Spotted Giraffe A Counting Pop-Up Book by Petr Horacek
Who doesn’t love both a lift-the-flap and pop-upin one awesome counting book!?
One-osaurus, Two-osaurus by Kim Norman, illustrated by Pierre Collet-Derby
Playful fun, these dinosaurs count and play hide-and-seek. The rhyming text and sound words make this a delightful book to read aloud.
Counting Kisses: A Kiss and Read Book by Karen Katz
Bedtime snuggles was never so much fun! From ten kisses on ten tiny toes all the way to one kiss on a sleep head, count and kiss baby goodnight.
One is a Piñata A Book of Numbers by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by John Parra
The rhyming text highlights Spanish objects and words. “Four are bolillos just waiting to dip in four cups of chocolate but first take a sip.” I love how this book celebrates bilingualism and culture! It’s fun, festive, and affirming.
Baby, Let’s Count! (Indestructibles) by Ekaterina Trukhan
Rip-proof, waterproof, and lightweight–practice counting animals with colorful illustrations and rhyme from one to ten.
Warthog: A Counting Adventure by Birdie Black, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
In this sweet, interactive lift-the-flap book, Warthog goes for a wandering walk. He discovers honey, bees, berries, flowers, monkeys, and so much more — including a scary lion who chases him all the way back home where he’s safe. An unexpectedly perfect adventure for the brave explorer in all of us.
Ghosts In the House a Lift-the-Flap Book by Ammi-Joan Paquette, illustrated by Adam Record
This clever, silly Halloween counting book starts with one ghost. The ghost discovers (lift-the-flap) a skeleton in the closet and now there are two. Soon there are a total of five monsters prowling through the house. That is until they see a little boy. Yikes! Frightened, the monsters run for their lives.
How Many Bugs in a Box? A Pop-up Counting Book by David A. Carter
My kids loved, loved, loved this book. It’s a blastto open the boxes and find colorful bugs to count!
One Big Pair of Underwearby Laura Gehl & Tom Lichtenheld
HAHA – this is the silliest “counting” picture book you’ll read! It’s counting and subtracting and patterns and did I mention silliness? It’s sure to be a new kid favorite.
We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs, illustrated by Julia Cairns
Gentle rhymes, some repetitive text (LOVE), and plenty of gorgeous safari vistas make you feel as though you’re along with this Maasai family as they spot (and count) wildebeests, lions, warthogs, and more animals on their safari. Absolutely lovely.
Ten Blocks to the Big Wok by Ying-Hwa Hu
Bilingual in English and Mandarin, this is a playful story of a girl and her dad walking ten blocks through Chinatown, counting things they see like four miniature trees on the fourth block and seven silk fans on the seventh block. When they arrive at the restaurant for dim sum, they count the delicious foods–9 fried wontons, 8 shumai, 7 tofu-shin rolls, and more.
Counting from 1 to 100 (OR MORE)
Peekaboo Pals 123 A Gareth Lucas Lift-the-Flap Book
It’s the Animal Antics race. Lift-the-flaps to count the animals as they race in numbered groups starting with 1 polar bear on a pogo stick to twenty turtles on a train, then 30, 40, 50 and 100. 100 rabbits on a rocket win the race. Sturdy flaps and reinforced pages ensure this book will last multiple readings.
One Dark Bird by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon As the town wakes up for the day, more birds soar in the sky above, from one to ten and then many more. Then a hawk appears and the starlings become a large flock, moving in unison like waves, dancing together in a noisy clutch. When it’s over, the birds float back down and settle in the tree for nighttime, counting from ten back to one. A beautiful pairing of evocative images and lyrical text!
Found Dogs by Erica Sirotich
Calling all dog lovers! Count dogs from one to ten — long, spotty, shiny, quick, slobbering, wrinkled. See where the dogs live, in a shelter, waiting for adoption. Then count backward from ten to one as the dogs each meet their new families. Very sweet!
Chicka Chicka 1,2,3 by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
You’ll love the rhymes in this story about 101 numbers climbing up the apple tree and facing the threat of bumblebees.
Octopuses Have Zero Bones by Anne Richardson, illustrated by Andrea Antinori
Is this an octopus fact book? No, it’s an oversized unconventional counting book with fun facts for each number –like an avocado contains one seed, your heart has four chambers, and the earth has five oceans. Pour over the random facts and beautiful illustrations.
Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Roy McKie
Three friends try to do amazing things to impress each other . . . all while balancing apples on their heads. Very silly!
How Many? A Different Kind of Counting Book by Christopher Danielson
Brilliant!This book doesn’t tell kids what to count, it’s an invitation to curiosity and playful counting with many counting possibilities.I love it! (Excuse me while I go count the eyelets on the Doc Martin shoes…)
Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley, illustrated by Lauren Castillo (diversity)
Lucy yawns while her mother reads her a bedtime story and drifts off to sleep. Only she wakes up suddenly in the dark, realizing that she doesn’t have her special stuffed bear, Molasses. As she makes her way back to bed with Molasses and her friends, keep counting the yawns. Can you count all twenty? Beautiful illustrations perfectly match this comforting bedtime story.
Rafa Counts on Papá by Joe Cepeda
A sweet story of a boy and his papá who both love counting and measuring almost as much as they love each other.
Pebbles and the Biggest Number by Joey Benun, illustrated by Laura Watson
Pebbles is a butterfly searching for numbers bigger than his two eyes, four wings, and six legs. From the desert to the rainforest to the sky and a scientist lab, Pebbles learns about bigger and bigger numbers. Accompanying the story is informational text found in the “Science Spot,” “Did You Know?,” dialogue bubbles, and “Number Note” on each spread. The story and facts are exciting to readers, who will learn a lot of big, impressive numbers while reading an adventure story.
I Know Numbers by Taro Gomi
One sentence per page makes this a prime choice for young learners to start exploring numeracy. This picture book shows numbers in the world — on calendars, TV channels, buses, buildings, games, and more — in diverse, stylized illustrations.
Counting Backward
One Tiny Treefrog: A Countdown to Survival by Tony Piedra and Mackenzie Joy
Count backward from ten to one as you watch a Costa Rican red-eyed tree frog grow from an egg into a tadpole and, later, into a frog. Gorgeous yellow-green illustrations will captivate readers. Back matter shares about the tree frog, other Costa Rican animals, and other scientific facts.
Two Dogs on a Trike A Counting Book by Gabi Snyder, illustrated by Robin Rosenthal
Pay close attention to the illustrations as you count the dogs riding in vehicles, starting with a trike, then a scooter, bicycle, trolley, and even hot-air balloon…But who is that following them? Who will be the 10th? Hint: It’s not a dog! Count backward from ten as the dogs run for their lives. Fun and funny.
The Blunders: A Counting Catastrophe! by Christina Soontornvat, illustrated by Colin Jack
The ten Blunder kids play outside for hours but when it’s time to do a headcount, they can’t find one kid. (Although we can see the problem right away, they can’t.) They keep making the same mistake (not counting the person who is counting) and it’s hilarious! They count in Spanish, count backward, and count by three. It’s no use! How will they tell their mom that they lost someone?
Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth, illustrated by aura Hulisk-Beith
As you turn the page, count the total ladybugs as they disappear one by one.
Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Annie Kubler, illustrated by Tina Freeman
This classic rhyming story helps kids count backward from ten as another monkey falls off the bed.
Also Read:
Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
Insect Books
Read Aloud Books
All Math Picture Books
Funny Picture Books Nursery Rhymes for Kids
