Concept books are a type of picture book that introduces basic ideas, or concepts, to young children. They are sometimes described as informational picture books for preschoolers. These books play an important part in early literacy and can be found in all our children’s collections. In this series of posts, we are going to highlight concept books according to theme, providing a booklist with additional recommendations.

Today we focus on concept books about numbers and counting. These books are designed to teach children number recognition and the concept of counting, both forward and backward.

Baby Bear Counts One by Ashley Wolff
Fall has arrived in Baby Bear’s forest, and the woods are teeming with animals busily preparing for winter. How many animals? Count along from one to ten with Baby Bear as he and Mama hustle home to their cozy den—just in time for the season’s first snowfall.

Ducks Away written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Judy Horacek
Count along with Mother Duck as her ducklings try to waddle across the bridge. When a sudden gust of wind sweeps one of Mother Duck's ducklings into the river, she doesn't know what to do. With four ducklings on the bridge and one below, Mother Duck is torn as to which way to go. Suddenly, a second duck falls. As she paces and frantically quacks, the remaining ducklings playfully plop one by one into the river until all of the siblings are happily floating along. Now that all five ducklings are safely in the water, Mother Duck flies down to join in the fun, relieved to have all her ducklings together again.
 

One Lonely Fish written by Thomas Flintham and illustrated by Andy Mansfield
This interactive board book filled with shaped pages combines irreverent humor with a counting theme. One fish, two fish, three fish, all the way up to ten fish, then... CHOMP! Turn the pages of this delightfully clever picture book to see a new fish on each spread, and count along as each fish prepares to eat the one before it. Then the ultimate finale—a huge mouth dominates the last page, gulping up every fish... returning us to one lonely fish!

Do you care to count some more? Head over to our list of Books about Counting for additional recommendations.

Visit your neighborhood library to find these books and much, much more!