Beep Beep, Vroom, Vroom! (Patterns): When little Molly plays with her big brother's red, yellow and blue toy cars, you know there's bound to be trouble…unless she can put them back in just the right order before he returns! Recognizing and being able to extend patterns leads to the development of logical thinking. Illustrated by Chris Demarest. 

The Best Bug Parade (Comparing Sizes): In Ladybug's garden, everything is relative. Who's big? Bigger? Biggest? Long, longer, longest? Short, shorter, shortest? Line up! It's time for the best bug parade of all. Comparing sizes is a simple form of classification and is necessary for the development of measurement skills. Illustrated by Holly Keller. 

Bug Dance (Directions): The bugs in Coach Caterpillar's gym class are learning a dance, but Centipede keeps tripping over his own feet! "Two steps to the left, two steps to the right. One hop forward, one hop backward. Turn right! Wiggle left. Wiggle right. Do the Bug Dance every night!" Sheet music is provided for the musically inspired. In addition to learning these basic directions, children gain a foundation in important mapping skills. Illustrated by Christopher Santoro 

Circus Shapes (Recognizing Shapes): First the elephants form a circle, then the monkeys make a square. Circus shapes are everywhere! Can you find all the circles, squares, triangles and rectangles? Recognizing shapes is the beginning of geometric thinking. Illustrated by Edward Miller. 

Double the Ducks (Doubling Numbers): The young cowboy has his two hands full with five little ducks. They need three sacks of food and four bundles of hay. And when they each bring home a friend, it's twice as much work. For 10 little ducks, he needs double the food, double the hay and double the hands! The first step in mastering basic addition is adding a number to itself (for example, 3+3). Illustrated by Valeria Petrone. 

Every Buddy Counts (Counting): When a little girl wakes up one morning feeling "crummy, yucky, very sad," she cheers herself up by counting all her friends—which include pets, playmates, neighbors and even older sisters. Not only can counting make you feel better, it is an essential math skill. Illustrated by Fiona Dunbar.
 

The Greatest Gymnast of All (Opposites): There is simply no stopping "Zipping, Zooming Zoe," who just happens to be the "Greatest Gymnast of All." She's up, then down, on the mat, then off, over the hoop, then under. Recognizing opposites helps children develop the spatial sense necessary for the development of geometry concepts. Illustrated by Cynthia Jabar. 

Henry the Fourth (Ordinals): It's "Dog Show Day" and the kids in the neighborhood have all gathered together to see four perfect pooches compete. Maxie's first, Baxter's second, Daisy's third, but will the stage-shy Henry the Fourth end up stealing the show? Identifying order is essential for developing sequencing skills. Illustrated by Scott Nash. 

A House for Birdie (Understanding Capacity): Poor little Birdie! He doesn't have a house to protect him from the wind and rain. So his buddies — Spike, Queenie, Goldie, and Fidget, who range in shape from tall, thin, and narrow to short, fat and wide—decide to help him find one. They fly all over the neighborhood, but each house they come to is either too tall, too wide, too fat or too short for Birdie, but perfect for one of them. Just when the skies begin to cloud over and things look their bleakest, Birdie's friends pitch in to build a house that's just right for Birdie. Capacity is an important concept in geometry. Illustrated by Edward Miller. 

It's About Time (Hours): The little boy's day starts at 7:00 A.M. with a great big stretch. Puppy stretches, too. By 8:00 A.M., it's off to school — "Good-bye Mom!" At 9:00 A.M., it's time to learn, and by 10:00 A.M., it's time to play with friends. The story follows the little boy throughout all 24 hours of his busy day, noting the time with an analog clock face and digital display that shows A.M and P.M. Lunch time! Dinner time! Bath time! Bedtime! When the boy is all tucked in for the night, friendly monsters come out to play. And then, before you know it, it's 7:00 A.M, and time to start another day. Being able to read both analog (traditional) and digital clock faces is an important part of everyday life. Illustrated by John Speirs. 

Jack the Builder (Counting On): Jack has the best blocks ever. They come in all shapes (square, rectangle, cylinders, cones) and colors. In Jack’s imagination, an arrangement of just two blocks is a robot. Add one more block and presto! It’s a hot dog stand at the circus. Add two more blocks for a total of five for a ferryboat. And so it goes, counting on more and more blocks, all the way to the super-duper, ready-for-lift-off rocket ship. Blast off! All the blocks fall down and it’s time for Jack to start over again. Counting on is a strategy to help young children understand how to solve addition problems. Illustrated by Michael Rex. 

Just Enough Carrots (Comparing Amounts): Young rabbit can't understand why Mom is buying so many bags of peanuts and cans of worms at the grocery store when everybody knows carrots are a whole lot tastier. Horse, he notices, has more carrots in his cart, while Elephant has fewer, though Bird has the same amount. H'mmmm… Could Mom be planning a party? To formulate addition and subtraction equations involves being able to identify "more," "fewer" and "the same." Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. 

Leaping Lizards (Counting by 5's and 10's): To put on “The Fifty Leaping Lizards Show!,” you need fifty star-struck leaping lizards. Where will they all come from? The first five are found lounging in bunk beds, but the next five arrive in theatrical style, riding unicycles and juggling. The next five are speed-demons in race-cars, followed by five more in a hot-air balloon. Colorful graphics keeps track of the count, first by showing how counting by 5s works, and then showing how counting by 10s is related: Kids can easily see how each group of 10 lizards divides into two groups of 5. Will there be enough lizards by show time? Counting by 5s and 10s is an important skill that helps children master multiplication facts, tell time, and count money. Illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi. 

Mighty Maddie (Comparing Weights): Maddie's birthday party and the house is a mess! Toys are everywhere, even in the bathroom. Dad helps carry heavy things up to her room, while Maddie gathers the rest. But it's up to Maddie to put everything away. As Jumbo the cat and Teenie the dog watch, she turns into "Mighty Maddie," a caped super-hero able to sort toys in a flash by how much they weigh. The fire truck is heavy, but the ballerina tutu is light, and the feather tiara is even lighter. Sometimes things that are big, such as pillows, are lighter than things that are small, such as books. Will Maddie manage to get everything stashed away neatly in time for the party? And why is Jumbo smiling and Teenie's tail wagging? Understanding that the weight of an object is not always dependent on size—mass—is an important measurement. Illustrated by Bernice Lum. 

Missing Mittens (Odd and Even Numbers): B'rrrr. It's a cold snowy day and Farmer Bill is missing one of his mittens. The cow, three chickens and two horses are in the same pickle. Instead of having an even 2, 4, 6 or 8 mittens for their hands, hooves and feet, they've got 1, 3, 5 and 7. How odd! Can you guess who the barnyard mitten thief is? Identifying the difference between odd and even numbers is essential to understanding our number system. Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. 

Monster Musical Chairs (Subtracting One): When six monsters get together to play musical chairs, you'd better watch out! "Stomp, stomp, SNORT. Shake, shimmy, SHOUT! When the music stops, one monster is OUT!," sings the leader of the monster band. One by one the players are tagged out until there's only one left: The winner! Knowing how many objects are left when one is taken away from a group is a first step in understanding the concept of subtraction. Illustrated by Scott Nash. 

One… Two… Three… Sassafras! (Number Order): It's picture-taking at the Lumpkin family reunion and Uncle Howie wants all the cousins to line up by age—from one-year-old Jacob to 15 year-old Tanya. "Say Sassafras!" But when Uncle Howie clicks the shutter, something always seems to go wrong. "Great galloping gillywhoppers!" Learning to arrange numbers in order helps develop counting skills and prepares children to understand our number system. Illustrated by John Wallace. 

A Pair of Socks (Matching): Oh no! The blue-and-red striped sock can't find its mate. It's not in the dirty laundry, or in the washing machine, or even in the clean clothes basket. But maybe with a little help from Pup the mystery can be solved. Matching helps children recognize attributes that are the same, note those that are different, and provides an introduction to pattern recognition. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert. 

Rabbit's Pajama Party (Sequencing): Rabbit throws the best sleep over parties! There's pizza, hot fudge sundaes, sleeping bags, scary stories and more. Can you remember what happened first? Then next? And after that? Sequencing is a key concept in math as well as story comprehension. Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. 

Seaweed Soup (Matching Sets): Turtle is such a generous and good friend that none of his buddies can say no when he invites them to lunch for a bowl of that "thick and green, gooey and slimy" delicacy, seaweed soup. Will he have enough matching place settings for everybody? Not to worry…this is one resourceful turtle. Understanding sets is an important step in counting, as well as in learning about patterns. Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. 

3 Little Firefighters (Sorting): It's parade day for the 3 little firefighters and they have to look their best. But their coats are missing buttons and their belly buttons show! Time to get out the button box. Each coat will need 4 buttons. They try to sort them by color, and then by shape, but they can't make enough sets. What if they try sorting by size instead? Ink Spot the dog wants to help! Sorting by attributes lays the groundwork for understanding number patterns and identifying geometric shapes. Illustrated by Bernice Lum.