Book Reviews

In this episode, we have some great picture books about famous mathematicians from history to share with you. The books included are:

• Ada Lovelace, by Isabel Sánchez Vegara & Zafouko Yamamoto
• Counting on Katherine, by Helaine Becker & Dow Phumiruk
• Code Breaker Spy Hunter, by Laurie Hallmark & Brooke Smart
• Grace Hopper Queen of Computer Code, by Laurie Hallmark & Katy Wu
• The Boy Who Loved Math, by Deborah Heiligman & LeUyen Pham

Maths Quest is an interactive adventure book series, where readers use their maths skills to decide how the plot unfolds. Each book in the series focuses on a different maths concept, including numbers, shapes and measures, and data handling.

Author: David Glover
Illustrator: Tim Hutchinson
Published by: QED Publishing

A Mathematician Like Me is an empowering story that introduces young readers to the world of maths, creative thinking and problem-solving. Various maths concepts are covered, and some famous mathematicians from history introduced.

Author: Shini Somara
Illustrator: Nadja Sarell
Published by: Wren & Rook

SuperQuesters is a fantastic series of interactive STEM adventure stories, where readers solve a number of quests to help solve a science problem in the story.

Author: Lisa Moss & Dr Thomas Bernard
Illustrator: Amy Willcox
Published by: QuestFriendz

In the latest episode of our children's books series, Senior Civil Engineer Rachel Hayden introduces us to one of her favourite pictures book - Rosie Revere, Engineer. This is a charming and witty story about pursuing your passion, but also learning from failure.

Author: Andrea Beaty
Illustrator: David Roberts
Published by: Abrams Books

Our final recommendation for Book Week Scotland is another story about shapes, this time for slightly older kids. "The Perfect Fit" is perfect for talking about how different shapes fit together, and a great inspiration for creating some new shapes of your own.

Title: The Perfect Fit
Author: Naomi Jones
Illustrator: James Jones
Published by: OUP Oxford

Our next recommendation for Book Week Scotland is "One Very Big Bear". Counting from 1 to 6, this book also looks at comparing sizes, e.g. how many walruses are equal to one bear.

Title: One Very Big Bear
Author: Alice Brière-Haquet
Illustrator: Olivier Philipponneau & Raphaële Enjary
Published by: Abrams Appleseed

For kids who love non-fiction books, we have a great recommendation today from the "100 Things to Know..." series, with lots of fun maths facts.

Title: 100 Things to Know About Numbers, Computers & Coding
Written by: Alice James, Eddie Reynolds, Minna Lacey, Rose Halls and Alex Frith
Illustrated by: Federico Mariani, Parko Polo and Shaw Nielsen
Layout and design by: Lenka Hrehova, Freya Harrison, Tilly Kitching and Jenny Offley
Published by: Usborne Books

Our next recommendation for Book Week Scotland is "How Many Legs?" This fun counting book will have children on their toes and engaged all the way through the story.

Title: How Many Legs?
Author: Kes Gray
Illustrator: Jim Field
Published by: Hodder Children's Books

To celebrate Book Week Scotland, we are sharing recommendations for maths themed children's books this week, starting with "Walter's Wonderful Web". A great introduction to shapes for little ones, and available in board book format too.

Title: Walter's Wonderful Web
Author & Illustrator: Tim Hopgood
Published by: Macmillan Children's Books

For International Women in Maths Day (12 May), author and illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky introduces her book Women in Science - 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, which features several great female mathematicians, such as Hypatia, Ada Lovelace, Amy Noether and Maryam Mirzakhani and others.

Book title: Women in Science - 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World
Author & Illustrator: Rachel Ignotofsky
Published by: Wren & Rook

In our latest book recommendation, maths teacher and author Chris Smith introduces his new book That's Mathematics, with the help of nephew Levi. Based on lyrics by US singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer, this fun and informative picture book introduces real-world maths that children use everyday, proving that maths really is fun and everywhere!

Book title: That's Mathematics
Author: Chris Smith, based on lyrics by Tom Lehrer
Illustrator: Elīna Brasliņa
Published by: Mama Makes Books

In the beautifully illustrated "Molly and the Mathematical Mystery", a young girl goes on an interactive adventure - and you're invited! Lift the flaps and solve the clues, to explore there's more to maths than sums and numbers. A great read for children of all ages, and adults too.

Title: Molly and the Mathematical Mystery
Author: Eugenia Cheng
Illustrator: Aleksandra Artymowska
Published by: Templar Books

In celebration of Book Week Scotland, we're launching a new video series with reviews of children's books that have a maths or numeracy focus.First up we have Abigail, by Catherine Rayner, shared by Fiona from National Museums Scotland. This book has a very special connection to the museum, as the author was inspired by the giraffe on display in the animal galleries.

Book title: Abigail
Written & illustrated by: Catherine Rayner
Published by: Little Tiger Press

We continue our Book Week Scotland recommendations with Helena from the Scottish Book Trust sharing why she loves "You Can't Count on Dinosaurs!" by Philip Ardagh & Elissa Elwick

Title: You Can't Count on Dinosuars! An Almost Counting Book
Author: Philip Ardagh
Illustrator: Elissa ElwickPublished by: Walker Books
Published by: Walker Books

Our final Book Week Scotland recommendation comes from Catherine at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, who has chosen to share "Ten Delicious Teachers" by Ross Montgomery & Sarah Warburton

Title: Ten Delicious Teachers
Author: Ross Montgomery
Illustrator: Sarah Warburton
Published by: Walker Books

In our latest book review, author Kjartan Poskitt introduces his book 'The Magic of Maths' which is full of fun maths tricks to keep children busy for hours - from using the power of maths to beat the calculator, to performing amazing card tricks, and even reading minds!

Title: The Magic of Maths
Author: Kjartan Poskitt
Published by: Scholastic

What are you passionate about? The beautifully illustrated book "Count On Me", by Miguel Tanco, celebrates some of the different ways we see the beauty of our world - through art, music or maths - and encourages children to find their own passion. Recommended by Jenni Fuchs from Maths Week Scotland

Title: Count On Me
Author & Illustrator: Miguel Tanco
Published by: Tate

In the latest episode of our children's books series, Liam from Museum on the Mound introduces us to 'Money for Beginners' - an illustrated, easy to understand introduction to all things money, for all ages.

Author: Eddie Reynolds, Matthew Oldham & Lara Bryan

Illustrator: Marco Bonatti

Published by: Usborne Books

Winter is a perfect time of year to cuddle down with a good book. With plenty of counting books for kids to choose from, it's also a great opportunity to include some maths in your seasonal story time.

(This video was part of our 2022 Christmas Holiday Countdown)