Multiplication Books for Kids in the Primary Classroom

Are your students ready to tackle multiplication? Whether you are teaching equal groups, repeated addition, arrays, or just trying to help students understand multiplication, children’s books are a great way to bring math concepts to life. Here are some great multiplication books for kids.

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Multiplication Books for Kids

Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do

by Stuart Murphy

It’s Kangaroo’s birthday, but no one will play with him: not the emu, the platypuses, the koalas, or even the dingos. They all have too many things to do. What exactly are they doing? They’re using multiplication to figure out just how many things they have to do to plan a big surprise for Kangaroo! This is a level 3 text in the Math Start series.

Spunky Monkeys on Parade

by Stuart Murphy

Monkeys ride in 2s, tumble by 3s, and march in 4s — and readers can count them up as the parade goes by! This is a level 2 book in the Math Start series.

The Best of Times

by Greg Tang

Four is very fast to do
when you multiply by 2.
Here’s a little good advice –
please just always double twice!

Greg Tang’s book of poems encourages kids to arrive at answers on their own rather than memorizing the times tables. A child who can multiply by two, for instance, can multiply by four and even eight! Likewise, times six builds on times two and times three.

The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book

by Jerry Pallotta

Learn multiplication with a yummy Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar! With its 3 horizontal rows and 4 vertical columns–totaling 12 sections in all–children can easily begin to understand the concept and process of multiplication. Memorizing multiplication facts has never been so fun!

2 x 2 = Boo!

by Loreen Leedy

How do you make a vampire disappear? How do you turn one bag of candy into five bags? And how do you double a moose head? All you have to do is multiply! Here, in six funny math stories, Loreen Leedy introduces the multiplication facts from 0 through 5.

Now…for My Next Number

by Margaret Park

This book presents a collection of colorful, easy-to-sing, easy-to-memorize songs that will help children practice and learn multiplication. Each song features a number and its multiples and tells a story in rhythm, rhyme, melody and pictures, making math a lively and multi-sensory activity.

Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream

by Cindy Neuschwander

Amanda Bean loves to count anything and everything, from the books in the library to the popcorn in her snack bowl! But sometimes she just can’t count fast enough. Her teacher tries to convince her that multiplying might help, but Amanda is unconvinced – until she has an amazing dream about free-wheeling sheep on bikes, speed knitting grandmas, and who knows how many long-sleeved sweaters. Only then does Amanda realize she can count on multiplication.

Minnie’s Diner: A Multiplying Menu

by Dayle Ann Dodds

Down on the farm one morning, Papa McFay orders his sons to hop to their chores. But from Minnie’s kitchen wafts a smell that gets the boys itchin’, and one by one, they succumb to the call of that sweet aroma. Each brother arrives at Minnie’s twice as hungry as his brother before — and looking for twice as much grub. Will they be in double trouble when Papa McFay tracks them down?

One Grain of Rice

by Demi

A rajah who believes himself to be wise and fair uses his hungry people’s rice for himself year after year, until a village girl named Rani devises a clever plan using the surprising power of doubling to win a billion grains of rice from the rajah.

Two of Everything

by Lily Hong

Mr. Haktak digs up a curious brass pot in his garden and decides to carry his coin purse in it. When Mrs. Haktak’s hairpin slips into the pot, she reaches in and pulls out two coin purses and two hairpins–this is a magic pot!

The King’s Chessboard

by David Birch

This book tells the story of a wise man who refuses the king’s reward for completing a favor. When the king insists the man accept a reward, the man proposes a deal: He will take a payment of rice equal to each square on the king’s chessboard—doubling the amount he receives with each day. How much rice will that be?

Multiplying Menace

by Pam Calvert

It’s been 10 years since the queen defeated Rumpelstiltskin and now he’s back to collect his payment from years before. He causes a stir in the kingdom by making mischief with his multiplying stick and threatens to do far worse if the debt is not repaid. It’s up to Peter, the young prince, to take possession of the Rumpelstiltskin’s magical multiplying stick and learn how to use it—and multiply both whole numbers and fractions– in order to restore peace to the kingdom. This book has a perfect mix of math, fairy-tale, and fun.

7 x 9 = Trouble

by Claudia Mills

Wilson has a hard time with math, especially with Mrs. Porter’s timed multiplication tests. If only he were as quick as Laura Vicks, the smartest kid in third grade, or as quick as his brother, Kipper — a kindergartner. Wilson’s mother and father try to help, but Wilson doesn’t appreciate having to do practice tests on a play date. Fortunately, his friend Josh Hernandez is a comfort, as is Squiggles, the class hamster. Wilson is sure that with his own little animal squeaking and cuddling beside him, he could learn anything. But his mom doesn’t like pets. So Wilson bravely struggles on, hoping that one day in the not-too-distant future he’ll pass all his times-table tests. Then, surprisingly, Kipper comes to the rescue.

Math Attack!

by Joan Horton

Each time her teacher asks, “What’s seven times ten?” a young girl experiences a severe case of arithmetic strain. “Numbers flew out of my head by the score. They stuck to the ceiling; they bounced off the floor!” Soon, exploding numbers are taking over her classroom, her school – then the entire town!

How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings

by Seon Chae

A mama duck with a dozen eggs has to do a lot of counting! Mama counts her ducklings one by one as they hatch, but soon she finds clever new ways to count to twelve–by twos, threes, fours, and sixes!

Breakfast at Danny’s Diner

by Judith Stamper

It’s a busy morning at Danny’s Diner, and his twin niece and nephew, Tina and Tony, are helping him out. There is a lot of work to do-there are tables to be set and food orders to take care of. The twins are overwhelmed. But when they put their multiplication skills to work, the diner runs better than ever!

Arctic Fives Arrive

by Elinor Pinczes

As a group of Arctic animals gathers together on a hilltop to view the northern lights, this lively book demonstrates how to count by fives with the help of snowy owls, musk oxen, walrus, ermine, polar bears, and more.

Sea Squares

by Joy Hulme

Rhyming text and illustrations of such sea animals as whales, gulls, clown fish, and seal provide opportunities to practice counting and squaring numbers from one to ten.

Each Orange Had 8 Slices

by Paul Giganti

If each orange has 8 slices and each slice has 2 seeds, then how many seeds are there in all? You’ll have fun multiplying, adding, and counting your way through the math puzzles hiding in the world all around you.

Eggs and Legs: Counting by Twos

by Michael Dahl

Introduces counting by twos by counting the number of legs coming out of eggs. Readers are invited to find hidden numbers on an illustrated activity page.

Lots of Ladybugs: Counting by Fives

by Michael Dahl

This nonfiction picture book introduces children to counting by fives through a fun-filled seek-and-find with ladybug shells.

Toasty Toes: Counting by Tens

by Michael Dahl

Introduces counting by tens by counting the number of toes on the beach.

The 512 Ants on Sullivan Street

by Carol A. Losi

This book presents the concept of doubling numbers. A little girl and her caregiver start off on a picnic where they find ants helping themselves to a family picnic.

Stacks of Trouble

by Martha F. Brenner

Mike learns how dirty dishes multiply when he tries to avoid washing them. This is part of the Math Matters series.

The Monster Who Did My Math

by Danny Schnitzlein

A math-phobic boy faces another dreaded evening of multiplication when a monster suddenly appears in his room and offers him a deal he cannot refuse. After a quick signature on a contract, the boy’s problems are solved, and his homework is ready to turn in the next day. At first, everything adds up perfectly. But when the boy’s math knowledge is tested at school, his troubles begin to multiply. What did the fine print on that contract read?

Multiplication Games and Activities

These multiplication games and activities are great for the classroom. You can use these with the whole group, small group, or during centers and rotations.