Here are my favourite counting picture books for young kids, together with their Amazon links. I've even added my own counting book at the end!
Note: I am not affiliated with any of these books or links (except my own book, of course!)
Doggies – a counting and barking book
Sandra Boynton
Big dogs, little dogs, short and long hair, powerful woofs, and tiny yaps are packed into this deceptively simple counting book that gets noisier with every page. Perfect for reading to little ones and doggies alike, this book will have the youngest of readers and their grown-ups howling with laughter.
One Duck Stuck
Phyllis Root
Count all of the animals who come splishing, plunking, slooshing to the rescue in this counting board book! Can two fish, tails going swish, help? Will three moose, munching on spruce, be able to pull the unlucky duck out of the muck? Perfectly sized for small hands, this counting rhyme is a feast of sounds and numbers that will have young listeners scrambling to join the slippy, sloppy fun!
Ten Little Night Stars
Deb Gruelle
Ten Little Night Stars is a sweet bedtime counting book perfect for the youngest readers. One by one the stars come out in the night sky, as cute and cuddly animals go through their bedtime routines. Written by Deb Gruelle, great-great-grand-niece of Johnny Gruelle, the creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy, Ten Little Night Stars is the perfect bedtime story for parents and children alike.
Ten Fat Turkeys
Tony Johnston
This silly rhyming story about ten turkeys teaches children how to count backwards.
"Looky!" says a silly turkey swinging from a vine. Gobble gobble, wibble, wobble. Whoops! Now there are nine. Girls and boys will gobble up this hilarious story about ten goofy turkeys and their silly antics: swinging from a vine, strutting on a boar, doing a noodle dance, and more.
Ten Magic Butterflies
Danica McKellar
Fairies, butterflies, and magic help to make this math-focused picture book from Danica McKellar, the New York Times bestselling author of Goodnight, Numbers and star of The Wonder Years, positively enchanting!
Join ten flower friends for a night of excitement that mixes a little math with a lot of magic. As each flower turns into a butterfly, children will discover different ways to group numbers to create ten, an essential building block of math, all while watching each flower's dream come true. (And keep an eye out for the adorable caterpillar who wishes he could fly, too!)
The Count
Sesame Street
Learn all about the Count in a new Sesame Street board book with bold, bright photographs. Babies and toddlers will love turning each sturdy page to see what Count von Count decides to count, with help from Elmo and other friends.
Twenty Yawns
Jane Smiley
A Huffington Post Best Children’s Book of the Year.
From Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and Caldecott Honor artist Lauren Castillo.
As her mom reads a bedtime story, Lucy drifts off. But later, she awakens in a dark, still room, and everything looks mysterious. How will she ever get back to sleep?
Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley’s first picture book, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Lauren Castillo, evokes the splashy fun of the beach and the quietude of a moonlit night, with twenty yawns sprinkled in for children to discover and count.
How Do Dinosaurs Count To Ten?
Jane Yolen
Come along for some BIG fun as your favorite dinosaurs delight young readers with their playful antics. How do dinosaurs count to ten? Over and over and over again! Jane Yolen and Mark Teague help young children learn to count from one to ten with a simple, rhyming text and laugh-out-loud illustrations! A perfect companion book to the other HOW DO DINOSAURS tales, and a great baby gift as well.
100 Dogs
Michael Whaite
TOP DOGS! Can there really be 100 dogs behaving in oh-so familiar doggy ways packed into the pages of this picture book?
Leap dog, sheep dog, fallen fast asleep dog. . . . Follow Michael Whaite's fun and lively rhyme as it weaves its way from happy dogs to yappy dogs to every type of dog in between.
This romp of a read-aloud is bursting with amusing details to spot and hilarious hounds that dog-lovers won't be able to resist. Readers will want to pore over it again and again. Which dog is yours?
One Mole Digging a Hole
Julia Donaldson
All the animals are busy lending a hand in the garden in this lively numbers book
The parrots are pulling up carrots, the bears are picking pears, and a swarm of bees are pruning the trees with their miniature shears. Julia Donaldson's whimsical rhymes and Nick Sharratt's hilarious illustrations make this early introduction to animals, the outdoors, and gardening a delight to share out loud. With plenty to giggle at on every page, counting—or gardening—has never been so much fun!
Bear Counts
Karma Wilson
Count along with Bear in this lovely Classic Board Book from the internationally bestselling Bear series. Numbers, numbers everywhere. Can you count along with Bear? Karma Wilson’s spirited text and Jane Chapman’s inviting illustrations make for a delightful introduction to numbers, perfect for young Bear fans.
One Big Pair Of Underwear
Laura Gehl
Count and share with…underwear! Come along on a zany adventure with this Classic Board Book edition of One Big Pair of Underwear from New York Times bestselling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld! What’s one thing that two bears, three yaks, four goats, and six cats have in common? They hate to share. But look out—here comes a pack of twenty pigs ready to prove that sharing makes everything twice as fun! This seriously silly Classic Board Book with artwork by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site irresistibly combines the concepts of counting and sharing.
One Fox
Kate Read
Counting from one to ten has never been so thrilling in this Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Book and recipient of the Mathical Book Prize from Kate Read! One hungry fox with two sly eyes is on the prowl . . . three plump hens had better watch out! Rich and colorful illustrations plunge the reader into a dramatic and exciting story set in a moonlit farmyard. With something different to count on each page, this gripping tale introduces page-turning tension to young readers in an age-appropriate way. Great for early education and read alouds, this fun numbers introduction has a hugely satisfying ending that’s sure to delight!
Pinkalicious 1 2 3
Victoria Kann
1 wand, 2 teacups, 3 teddy bears. Learn to count to 20 with Pinkalicious in this pinkamazing board book!
Full of exciting illustrations and fun, playful words, the littlest readers will have a blast learning with Pinkalicious in one of her first board books ever!
One Gorilla
Anthony Browne
Primo primate artist Anthony Browne is at the top of his form with a simple — and simply fascinating — array of creatures for kids to count.
What better attention-getter for small children than primates in all their variety? And who better to render them than Anthony Browne? In this elegant counting book, the author-illustrator outdoes himself with a vivid presentation of primates from gorillas to gibbons, macaques to mandrills, ring-tailed lemurs to spider monkeys. With his striking palette, exquisite attention to detail, and quirky flair for facial expressions, Anthony Browne slyly extends the basic number concept into a look at similarities and differences — portraying an extended family we can count ourselves part of.
Monster Counting Book 1 to 20
Frances Mackay
Created by a Primary (Elementary) School teacher, this book explores numbers, counting, comparisons, colours, number words and shapes. Every page has brightly coloured, humorous illustrations that will grab your child's attention - and give you a giggle too!
There's monsters of all shapes and sizes, but none of them are scary, so your child will enjoy reading this book with you time and time again.
An entertaining and educational book for 3-5 year-olds and early years classrooms.
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