Books to help your child cover the basics before they start school.
Find more resources on preparing for school, including recommended books and a loanable school pack.
123 Count With Me
Georgie Birkett
Introduce children to the numbers 1 through 20 and the early concept of counting with this interactive trace-and-flip board book featuring bright and bold illustrations!
This unique, innovative trace-and-flip book offers an engaging new way for children to discover numbers 1 to 20 and learn to count! Young readers can trace each number by following the tracks with a finger to become familiar with its shape.
Brown Bear and Friends 123
Bill Martin and Eric Carle
One Baby Bear in a tree. Now what does Brown Bear see? Join Brown Bear and friends as they count from 1 to 10!
This charming and rhythmic rhyming book is the perfect introduction for little ones to learn about the world of numbers.
Fans of Eric Carle’s bright, distinctive artwork will love identifying the various foods and animals featured in this book.
How Many Babies?
Forest Xiao
Babies love to look at pictures of other babies. And babies have never been sweeter, rounder and happier than in Forest Xiao’s counting concept board book which gently introduces little ones to first numbers through objects and situations they’re familiar with.
This Book is Bursting with Monsters!
Christina Dorner
Are you ready to meet the monsters? Don’t worry, they may look a little odd but they’re all friendly!
This silly, immersive story invites little ones to call out, interact and join in with the fun, watching as a cast of monsters appear and disappear before their very eyes! Each page turn reveals a delightfully strange new creature with unique features for children to identify.
Can you find the green two-headed monster, or the one with six eyes and six arms? Little ones will love practising their counting skills and expanding their vocabulary as they say hello and goodbye to these hilarious monsters.
Hello Baby Elephant
Ekaterina Trukhan
Young readers will discover one zebra, two elephants, three lions, four cheetahs and five baby crocodiles with sturdy sliders and a surprise mirror ending to engage young readers. Once they have counted up to five, there is a handy recap page to continue the counting fun!
With striking artwork from Ekaterina Trukhan, friendly animal characters and double pull-out sliders, this durable format is ideal for encouraging development of motor skills and introducing toddlers to counting.
Giant Parsnip Soup
Daniela Sosa
On a lovely sunny day, a group of friends discover something very unusual. It’s big. It’s got leaves. It’s in their way. What is it? A giant parsnip!
In this story, a group of children use their imagination to turn a giant parsnip into a delicious dinner for them all to share.
Each page has something to count and spot as the book introduces the numbers one to ten.
How to Count to One (And Don’t Even THINK About Bigger Numbers!)
Caspar Salmon
This is a hilariously bossy picture book about counting that children will love to outsmart! You know how to count, right? Great!
There are loads of fun things to count in this book. Whales, baboons, rainbows, pyramids. There’s just one rule. You must only ever count to one. So don’t even think about bigger numbers.
Best Counting Book Ever
Richard Scarry
Make learning to count easy and fun with this very special 50th anniversary edition of the children’s classic from Richard Scarry!
Join Willy Bunny and count your way from 1 to 100 with wonderful illustrations along the way. Willy practises counting all of the things he sees – from one bunny (himself!) to a hundred fireflies in the night sky. This wonderful book makes learning your numbers fun and easy.
Full of humour and beautiful illustrations, this classic work really is the best counting book ever!
100 Goats and Granny!
Atinuke
Granny’s beloved goats follow her wherever she goes – to the tailor, to the salon, and even on the bus. The children help her to keep count of them all. Oh wait! Oh no! Where did goat 100 go?
Follow the trail of clues and chaos through the bright, bustling market to help find the missing goat!
How Big is a Polar Bear?: A Book About Measurements
Louise Spilsbury
Leon and Luna are having a magical adventure around the world comparing and measuring animals, seeing how big redwood trees are and finding out about heavy and light things.
Through the story, children will learn about maths concepts including: how we compare sizes and measure things, and how to measure weight and capacity.
The Biggest Breakfast
Richard Jones
One day, a child meets a little bird and feeds it some breakfast.
The next day, the little bird comes back with two pink-tailed mice, and the next day they are joined by four squirrels and then eight kind-eyed wolves and then sixteen elephants until eventually, one day, there are 247 animals to feed for breakfast!
But who, wonders the child, will make breakfast for me?! Turn the pages – and count the creatures – to find out.
Counting Monsters
Bright, bold, and irresistibly fun! Our Neon Buddies series brings early learning to life with a splash of neon colour on every page.
Each high-contrast board book pairs playful monsters with counting concepts. Designed to delight little readers and captivate parents alike, these striking titles will light up storytime.
No Time for Clocks
Max Lowe
The ‘Ceri & Deri’ series follows the adventures of its titular characters, a dog and cat duo who love undertaking new projects and activities.
With an educational dimension, these stories will help children grasp concepts such as time, counting, and sharing, while their fun and varied cast of animal characters, bright and vivid art style, and endlessly imaginative scenarios make them an original and engaging choice for young readers.
Monster Maths: Counting
Madeline Tyler and Amy Li
Is the maths monster biting at your brain? Maths can be scary, but not with ‘Monster Maths’.
Whether you’re counting or measuring, sorting shapes or picking out patterns, these friendly maths monsters can help any young mathematician find the right answer.
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