27 New Books for Ages 2-18 Join the Mathical List
Berkeley, CA – February 20, 2025 — The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath) announced today the 2025 winners of the Mathical Book Prize, which recognizes outstanding fiction and nonfiction for youth ages 2-18.
This year’s selections favor adventure, high-spirited response to challenging times, and the joy and usefulness of measurement.
2025 Mathical Award Winners
Preschool students (PreK) will be delighted by Nicola Kent’s Measuring Me!, with its approach using direct comparison to quantify children’s everyday world (Kane Miller).
Young readers (Grades K-2) will be charmed by Christine Liu-Perkins’ The Quest for a Tangram Dragon, an adventure which comes alive through shapes, illustrated by Lynn Scurfield (Bloomsbury).
Elementary readers (Grades 3-5) can pull out their aprons and get cooking – and measuring! – in the kitchen with Emma Bland Smith’s The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook, illustrated by Susan Reagan (Astra Books for Young Readers).
Middle grade readers (Grades 6-8) may be enthralled by a historical adventure set in a code-breaking haven in WWII England, The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Penguin Young Readers).
Young adults (Grades 9-12) are invited to explore historical fiction with Cambria Gordon’s Trajectory, another WWII tale imbued with mathematical courage and problem-solving (Scholastic).
The Mathical Prize, now in its 11th year, is selected annually by a committee of PreK-12 math and language arts teachers, librarians, mathematicians, early childhood experts, and others.
The following Mathical Honor Books were also announced by the selection committee, co-chaired this year by Katie Hendrickson of Code.org, Chris Nho of Desmos, and Dr. John Urschel of the MIT Mathematics Department.
2025 Mathical Honor Books
PreK (Ages 2-4)
- First Friends: Numbers by Mk Smith Despres, illustrated by Aya Watanabe (Barefoot Books)
- Hen in the Bed by Katrina Charman, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten (Nosy Crow)
- How Do You Spend? By Cinders McLeod (Penguin Young Readers)
Grades K-2 (Ages 5-7)
- Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube by Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer (Holiday House / Peachtree)
- Every Dog in the Neighborhood by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Holiday House)
- The Spark in Me by Miguel Tanco (Tundra Books)
- A Treasure of Measures by Mike Downs, illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz (Chronicle Books)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
- Close Up and Far Out by Mary Auld and Adria Meserve (The Creative Company)
- Copycat: Nature-Inspired Design Around the World by Christy Hale (Lee & Low Books)
- How Do You Turn Data into Drawings? by Clayton Grider, illustrated by Srimalie Bassani (Flowerpot Press)
- Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers / PRH)
- Solar System: By the Numbers by Steve Jenkins (HMH Books for Young Readers)
- A Tour of the Human Body: Amazing Numbers — Fantastic Facts by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Dawn DeVries Sokol (Astra Books for Young Readers)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
- Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees, and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities by Stephanie Gibeault, illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett (Candlewick Press)
- Gamer Girls: 25 Women Who Built the Video Game Industry by Mary Kenney, illustrated by Salini Perera (Running Press Teens / Hachette Book Group)
- The History of the Computer: People, Inventions, and Technology That Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky (Ten Speed Press / Penguin Random House)
- May the Best Player Win by Kyla Zhao (Penguin Young Readers)
- Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin (Feiwel and Friends / Macmillan)
- The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss (Abrams BFYR)
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)
- This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg (Flatiron Books / Macmillan)
- The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming (Scholastic)
- Much Ado about Numbers: Shakespeare’s Mathematical Life and Times by Rob Eastaway (The Experiment)
The 2025 Mathical Book Prize is awarded by the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath). The prize is awarded in partnership with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and in coordination with the Children’s Book Council (CBC).
Mathical is made possible through the generous support of the Firedoll Foundation, the Guru Krupa Foundation, and the Luce-Fahey Family Foundation.
The Mathical List presently includes 179 titles for PreK through high school readers. Mathical Books donates thousands of books annually to organizations and schools serving low-income families in Oakland, California, and nationwide.
More than 14,000 children in Grades PreK through 8 are reading Mathical Books during the 2024-2025 school year. They are participating in the first-ever Mathical Readathon, which is free. Teachers may join at any time during the school year.
SLMath partners with organizations to distribute Mathical titles and resources nationally to children in need. Partners include the Early Math Project, the Guru Krupa Foundation, NCTE, NCTM, the Oakland Unified School District (CA), School Library Journal, TeachingBooks.net, and selected organizations serving unhoused women and children in the San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, and Pacific Northwest.
Additional resources for families, educators, and libraries including grade-level flyers, news and reviews, and reading guides can be accessed at mathicalbooks.org.
Contact us: mathical@slmath.org
About SLMath: The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly known as the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is one of the world’s preeminent centers for collaborative research in mathematics. Located in Berkeley, California, the mission of SLMath is to advance mathematical research, foster talent and community, and further the appreciation and understanding of mathematics. SLMath strives to make mathematics accessible and exciting to those outside the field through sponsorship of Numberphile (one of YouTube’s most popular informal mathematics channels, with over 4.6 million subscribers), film production (most recently Journeys of Black Mathematicians, airing on PBS and public television stations nationwide beginning February 2025), and the Mathical Book Prize. SLMath is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation with additional support from other government agencies, private foundations, corporations, individual donors, and over 110 academic institutions worldwide. www.slmath.org
2025 Mathical Book List & Flyers
Join us in sharing a love of math-related kids’ books far and wide, or find more Mathical printables to explore.
- Download all Mathical age-level book list flyers, 2015-2025 (PDF), or download a flyer for each age level. Each flyer contains complete book list on page 2.
- Download all 2025 Mathical Prize book covers (.zip file, 5.8 MB, downloads automatically upon click)
- Download Mathical logos