Have you ever read a children’s book and noticed or wondered about something you could solve using mathematics? Using picture books to pose mathematical problems has several benefits:

  • Children are familiar with picture books, providing friendly and relatable contexts.
  • Children can make connections with the characters to solve meaningful problems.
  • The everyday contexts of picture books also help children talk about their reasoning when problem-solving.
  • The pictures within the books often create meaningful representations for children as they consider the mathematical problem.

 

Each task in this bank is written using the Launch, Explore, Summarize lesson plan format and includes a link to a chart to anticipate student strategies and monitor student strategies and thinking as they work through the problems. Tasks also include a recording sheet where applicable. They are meant to be used as ideas. Please make changes and adaptations as necessary for the students in your class. All of the ideas for the tasks in this bank are common picture book math problems or were created by UVU School of Education Faculty. 

 

The picture books and manipulatives in these tasks are available through the UVU School of Education Creative Learning Studio. The books were funded through the STEM Action Center Utah Math Innovation Grant. There are only a few copies of each book. Most of these books are also available at your local library or the school library. 

 

If you use one of these tasks, please complete our Picture Book Task Survey so that we can learn more about your experience teaching, how students solve problems, and improve our Picture Book Task Bank.

 

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Lesson Plans

Early Number Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

K

Picnic Table Subitizing

Feast for 10

By Cathryn Falwell

K.CC.5

Subitizing

1

How Many Animal Feet?

The Little Blue Truck

By Alice Schertle

1.NBT.1

1.OA.5

Counting, Skip Counting, Relate counting to addition

1

Pieces of Fruit

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

By Eric Carle

1.NBT.1

1.OA.5

Counting, Relate counting to addition

1

Snails and Crabs Numbers Pictures

One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab

1.NBT.1

1.NBT.2

Represent a number between 1 and 120

Addition and Subtraction Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

K

Decomposing Ten

Ten Flashing Fireflies

By Philemon Sturges

K.OA.3

Decomposing 10

1

Mouse Gets the Cheese

Mouse Mess

By Linnea Asplind Riley

1.OA.8

1.OA.5

Adding 3 or more numbers

1

Doubling Pot 

Two of Everything

By Lily Toy Hong

1.OA.6

Doubling sums

2

Too Many Shoes

Centipede's 100 Shoes

By Tony Ross

2.NBT.5

2.OA.1

Addition within 100, skip counting

2

Birthday Surprise

Night Noises

By Meme Fox

2.NBT.6

Adding multiple numbers

Multiplication and Division Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

4

Acts of Kindness

I am One

By Susan Verde

4.NBT.5

Multi-Digit Multiplication

3

Dinner Time!

Six Dinner Sid

By Inga Moore

3.OA.1

3.OA.3

Single Digit Multiplication

4

Sharing Cookies 

The Doorbell Rang

By Pat Hutchins

None listed

Remainders

4

Hungry Ants

One Hundred Hungry Ants

By Elinor J. Pinczes

4.OA.4

Prime and Composite Numbers

Rational Number Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

4

Valuable Shapes

The Warlord's Puzzle

By Virginia Pilegard

4.NF.3

Decomposing Fractions

5

Slices of Cake

The Lion's Share

By Matthew McElligot

5.NF.4

Multiplying Fractions

6

Animal Pictures 

Picture Pie

By Ed Emberley

5.NF.1

Adding Unlike Denominators

Geometry Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

K

Mystery Shapes

Mouse Shapes

By Philemon Sturges

K.G.1

Identify Shapes

1, 2

School Shapes

City Shapes

By Diana Murray

1.G.1

2.G.1

Attributes of Shapes

3

Sorting Shapes 

Round is a Tortilla

By Roseanne Thong

3.G.1

Sorting shapes with shared attributes

4

Museum Shapes

I Spy Shapes in Art

By Lucy Micklethwait

4.G.2

4.G.3

Lines of Symmetry; Parallel and Perpendicular Lines; Acute, Obtuse, and Right Angles

Measurement and Data Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

K

Sorting Buttons

The Button Box

By Margarette Reid

K.MD.3

Sorting

1

What Do You See?

Duck! Rabbit!

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal

1.MD.4

Organize, Represent, and Interpret Data

1, 2

What If You Had Kangaroo Feet?

What If You Had Animal Feet?

By Sandra Markle

1.MD.2

2.MD.1

Linear Measurement

2

Help the Apprentice!

How Big is a Foot

By Rolf Myller

2.MD.1

2.MD.2

Standard Units

4, 5

How Much Longer?

Actual Size

By Steve Jenkins

4.MD.1

5.MD.1

Customary Conventions

5

Animal Hair

What If You Had Animal Hair

By Sandra Markle

1.MD.2

2.MD.1

5.NF.1

Measuring to nearest 1/4, Adding/Subtracting Mixed Numbers

6

Buying Soil

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea

Transformed a Neighborhood

By Tony Hillery and Jessie Hartland

6.MD.2

Volume with Fractions

Mathematical Modeling Tasks

Grade

Lesson Title

Picture Book

Standard(s)

Big Idea

3-6

Soul Food Sunday

Soul Food Sunday

By Winsome Bingham

None listed

Fractions, Money/Decimal Operations

3-6

Fry Bread

Fry Bread

By Kevin Noble Mallard

None listed

Fractions, Money/Decimal Operations

K-6

Actual Size

Actual Size

By Steve Jenkins

None listed

Measurements

2-6

Harlem Grown

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea

Transformed a Neighborhood

By Tony Hillery and Jessie Hartland

None listed

Area, Perimeter

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