54 of the Best Picture Books for Geometry

Is geometry a scary word in your homeschool? It doesn’t have to be! These living books for geometry help to introduce basic concepts to your children in a fun way. Stories can often help simplify math concepts in a way that kids can easily understand. The whole family is bound to enjoy these living books, especially the math adventure books towards the end of this post!

Whether you’re hoping to teach a new concept, reiterate one, or simply read these books for fun, you won’t be disappointed. I can’t wait to hear which geometry books from this list are your favorites. Feel free to add new ones to the list by commenting below, too!

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Living Books About Shapes

Shapes are the foundation of geometry and spatial understanding. These books give children a wonderful introduction to basic 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes through stories and connections to real life. Some of them build understanding about how shapes work together, too.

• Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
• Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
• Goldilocks and Three Squares by Grace MacCarone
• Hamster Champs by Stuart J. Murphy
• Icky Bug Shapes by Jerry Pallotta
• If You Were a Polygon by Marcie Aboff
• If You Were a Quadrilateral by Molly Cece Barlow Blaisdell
• Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Round Is a Tortilla by Roseanne Thong
• Shape Up by David A. Adler
• Shapes by Henry Pluckrose
• Spotted Yellow Frogs by Matthew Van Fleet
• The Shape of Things by Dayle Ann Dodds
• The Wing on the Flea by Ed Emberly
• Triangles by David A. Adler
• When a Line Bends…a Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene 
• Zachary Zormer Shape Transformer by Joanne Anderson Reisberg

Living Books for Geometry and Spatial Reasoning

This particular list of books will help your children dive into a deeper understanding geometry and spatial reasoning concepts through stories that have a little more meat on their bones. Many of them also help kids to develop critical thinking skills for higher level math, as well as every other area of life.

• A Cloak for the Dreamer by Aileen Friedman
• Chickens on the Move by Meg Belviso
• Cut Down to Size at High Noon by Scott Sundby
• Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
• Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert
• Mummy Math by Cindy Neuschwander
• Perimeter, Area, and Volume by David A. Adler
• Pythagoras and the Ratios by Julie Ellis
• Racing Around by Stuart J. Murphy
• Re-Zoom by Istvan Banyai
• Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy
• Spaghetti and Meatballs for All by Marilyn Burns
• Tangled by Anne Miranda
• The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
• The Fly on the Ceiling by Julie Glass
• The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood
• The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
• The Librarian Who Measured Earth by Kathryn Lasky
• The Paper Crane by Molly Bang
• What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? by Julie Ellis
• Zoom by Istvan Banyai

The Sir Cumference Series

Out Family LOVES the Sir Cumference series. They help slightly older elementary and middle school children understand geometry concepts like radius, diameter, angles, and area. They are fantastic for modeling problem-solving strategies, too. Trust me, you don’t wanna miss out on these fun math adventures!

• Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Roundabout Battle by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map by Cindy Neuschwander

The Warlord’s Series

The Warlord series is another great math adventure series. They are geared towards a younger age than the Sir Cumference books and would be appropriate through all of the elementary years. The books I’ve listed here tie in nicely with geometry topics, and like the Sir Cumference series, they also boost problem-solving skills. As you probably know, I’m a huge proponent of children learning critical thinking and problem solving skills!

• The Warlord’s Kites by Virginia Pilegard
• The Warlord’s Puppeteers by Virginia Pilegard
• The Warlord’s Puzzle by Virginia Pilegard

Quilts

A fun way to enjoy the study of geometry is to focus on quilts. Yes, quilts! By design, quilts are made from shapes – and all kinds of them – fitting together into tessellation patterns. Consider actually making some real or constrution paper quilt squares as you enjoy any or all of these wonderful books about quilts.

• Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
• The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr
• The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
• The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
• The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau

Living math is one of my favorite things to teach in our homeschool. Making connections to math concepts through literature, real-life activities, specific problem solving, and even gameschooling have made our homeschool so much better over the years. If you’d like to know more, check out either of the following resources.

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