Book Description

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has articulated goals in the pursuit of mathematics literacy that include learning to value mathematics, becoming confident in one's mathematics abilities, becoming a mathematical problem solver, learning to communicate mathematically, and learning to reason mathematically. Literature that explores mathematical concepts seems to be a natural tool for attaining those goals. The NCTM formed a committee to read and review books and to prepare the manuscript for this annotated bibliography of children's books in mathematics. This book provides reviews for approximately 500 books in mathematics for preschool through grade 6. Each review describes the book's content and accuracy, its illustrations and their appropriateness, the author's writing style, and whether activities for the reader are included. Each book is rated in terms of its usefulness in teaching mathematical concepts as highly recommended, recommended, acceptable, or not recommended for mathematical concepts. The grade level of each book is included in the bibliographical entry. The books have been classified into four main categories with respect to their mathematical content: (1) early number concepts; (2) number extensions and connections; (3) measurement; and (4) geometry and spatial sense. An overview for each of the categories can be found at the beginning of each section. Two indexes list the books by author and by title. (MDH)