Picture Books
Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno’s Counting Book. A counting book depicting the growth in a village and surrounding countryside during twelve months.
Ashburn, Boni. Over at the Castle. In this variation on the folk song “Over the Meadow,” the occupants of a medieval castle spend their day spinning, cleaning, cooking, and dancing, until they receive a special surprise from their dragon neighbors.
Baker, Keith. 1-2-3 Peas. Busy little peas engage in their favorite activities as they introduce the numbers from one to 100.
Berkes, Marianne Collins. Over in the Grasslands: On an African Savanna. This grasslands variation of the classic song “Over in the Meadow” introduces animals and their offspring that dwell on the savanna of Africa, from a mother zebra and her “little calf one” to a “cunning father jackal and his little pups ten.”
Brown-Wood, JaNay. Grandma’s Tiny House: A Counting Story! In rhyming text, when the whole family and guests show up for the big dinner at Grandma’s house, it becomes clear that the house is much too small to hold them all.
Bloom, Suzanne. A Number Slumber. A series of yawning, pajama-clad animals countdown as they prepare to go to sleep.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Follows the progress of a hungry little caterpillar as he eats his way through a varied and very large quantity of food until, full at last, he forms a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep. Die-cut pages illustrate what the caterpillar ate on successive days.
Cyrus, Kurt. Billions of Bricks. A counting book that leads readers through the day in the life of a construction worker building with bricks.
Dean, James. Pete the Cat: Five Little Ducks. Readers are invited to join Pete the Cat as he stars in the classic song “Five Little Ducks.”
Flintham, Thomas. One Lonely Fish / A Counting Book with Bite! Turn the page to see a new fish on each spread, and count along as each fish prepares to eat the one before it.
Fox, Mem. Let’s Count Goats! The reader is invited to count goats of many shapes, sizes, hobbies, and professions.
Greene, Rhonda Gowler. Push! Dig! Scoop! : A Construction Counting Rhyme. In this variation on the the classic song “Over in the Meadow,” mother and father trucks show their youngsters how to build down at the construction site, from “mama bulldozer with her little dozer one” to “mama steamroller with her little rollers ten.”
Hart, Caryl. One Shoe Two Shoes. Introduces colors and numbers one to ten as increasing numbers of mice explore a wide variety of shoes.
Hays, Anna Jane. Kindergarten Countdown. Rhyming text follows an excited little girl as she counts down the days before the start of kindergarten.
Hoban, Tana. Count and See. Photographs of common objects and events illustrate the numbers one through one hundred.
Krans, Kim. 123 dream. Drawings of creatures and natural wonders introduce numbers from one to ten. Includes a search-and-find activity.
Lessac, Frane. Island Counting 123. Counts from one to ten, featuring pictures and brief rhyming text with a Caribbean island theme.
Long, Ethan. One Drowsy Dragon. As one dragon tries to take a nap, his ten little dragons, in increasing numbers, disturb his sleep by making milk shakes, screaming at scary movies, and playing loud games.
Matheson, Christie. Bird Watch. Count backwards from ten as you search for hidden birds (and insects and animals) in this seek-and-find picture book.
McKellar, Danica. Goodnight, Numbers. Illustrations and simple text help the reader understand the numbers one to ten and recognize them as they appear all around us, especially at bedtime.
Micklos, John. One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me! Illustrations and simple, rhyming text tell the story of a year in the life of a tree.
Pinder, Eric. Counting Dinos. Rodrigo the Ankylosaurus and his dinosaur friends explore their prehistoric world as they count from one to ten.
Rose, Deborah Lee. The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book. A cumulative counting verse in which a child enumerates items in the kindergarten classroom, from the whole alphabet, A to Z, to twelve eggs for hatching.
Rose, Deborah Lee. The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book. A cumulative counting verse in which a child lists items pertaining to springtime given to her by her teacher, from a garden that needs to be carefully watered to twelve flags for flapping.
Sendak, Maurice. One Was Johnny: A Counting Book. See how Johnny restores peace and quiet to his home as he rids himself of ten intruders.
Sirotich, Erica. Found Dogs. Counts up ten dogs who are waiting in a shelter, then counts back down to one as each dog is adopted.
Surplice, Holly. Guinea Pig Party. The guinea pigs are having a party, and like many children’s birthday parties, things aren’t going perfectly. But in the end everyone has a good time and the party is a success!
Thompson, Lauren. How Many Cats? From zero to twenty, a house becomes filled with frolicking cats, who then leave alone or in groups.
Ward, Jennifer. Way Up in the Arctic. A counting book in rhyme presents various Arctic animals and their offspring, from a mother caribou and her “little calf one” to a mother Arctic fox and her “little cubs ten.”
Wood, Audrey. Ten Little Fish. Ten little fish swim along an ocean reef, each finding a different reason to leave until there is only one left.
Board Books
Bang, Molly. Ten, Nine, Eight. Numbers from ten to one are part of this lullaby which observes the room of a little girl going to bed.
Faliere, Amlie. 123 in a Tree: A Book of Numbers. Increasing amounts of animals in a tree teach young readers how to count from one to ten.
Hill, Eric. Spot Counts to 10. Illustrations of familiar objects from a child’s world–from one playful puppy to ten stars–encourage children to begin counting from one to ten with Spot the dog.
Katz, Karen. Ten Tiny Tickles. Family members awaken a baby with tickles, from one little tickle on a lovely sleepy head to ten tiny tickles on chubby, tubby toes.
Mitter, Matt. Cookie Countdown. Cookie Monster baked ten cookies to eat at Elmo’s party, but as he keeps meeting friends on his way to Elmo’s house, the cookies are quickly disappearing and Cookie Monster wonders if there will be a treat left for him to eat.
Mitter, Patricia. 1 2 3: My Numbers. Introduces young readers to the numbers from one to ten using illustrations of such birds as cardinals, bluebirds, robins, and goldfinches.
Oklejak, Marianna. Numbers. Introduces numbers one through ten with objects representing each number, including violins, rocking horses, and shirts.
Thompson, Lauren. Little Quack Counts. While exploring their neighborhood one afternoon, Little Quack and his sister, Piddle, count all the wonderful things they see, such as beautiful butterflies and busy bees, before finally returning home to the one they love, Mama Duck.
Walters, Eric. Bedtime 123. A counting board book that introduces little ones to all the animals around the farm that are going to bed.
Non-fiction
J 513.211 (Counting books)
J 398.8 Dil Mother Goose: Numbers on the Loose. Presents an illustrated collection of twenty-four counting rhymes, from “Baa, baa black sheep” to “Wash the dishes, wipe the dishes.”
J 460 Zak My Numbers in Spanish. Rhyming text in English introduces the Spanish and French terms for the numbers from one to ten and other words.
J 513.2 Bro 1 Cookie, 2 Chairs, 3 Pears. Offers photograph illustrations demonstrating groups of things from one to twenty.
J 599.789 Mar How Many Baby Pandas? Basic counting skills combine with panda facts to introduce readers to numbers and these cuddly cubs, from the moment they were born to the time they started climbing trees.
