Read to kids ages 4-8/9, read alone ages 8/9-12
Pythagoras, a kid living in ancient Greece, sees problems all around him: workmen cannot build pillars accurately to hold up roofs and seaman take far to long on their merchant travels. This book clearly demonstrates and reinforces Pythagoras' theorem (a2 + b2 = c2) in various scenarios. If all mathematical concepts were to explained in such a fun and clear as done in this book, all kids would love math. Even though kids over the age of 9 can read this book themselves, older kids would benefit from discussing the concepts with an adult.
Matt and Bibi are taken to Paris and attend cooking school (of course!). This fun book introduces kids to capcity and the various units of measurement: cups, pints, gallons, and litters. 
Matt and Bibi are taken to Egypt with their parents and while there, get trapped in the pharaoh's pyramid. To get out, they must solve the mystery presented by the geometric hieroglyphics. This book introduces children to the eight most common geometric solids: cones, cylinders, cubes, spheres, pyramids, tetrahedrons, rectangular prisms, and triangular prisms.
Matt and Bibi are off on their own again - this time in the Peruvian jungle. As stated in the note to parents, "Recognizing, describing, and extending patterns are important pre-algebra skills for young children to develop...". Patterns in Peru covers three types of patterns: repeating, positional, and growing. Some of the patterns are pictorial while others are mathematical. This book is a wonderful example of 21st Century Learning as children are simultaneously introduced to mathematical concepts and Incan history. Even though kids over the age of 7 can read this book themselves, older kids would benefit from discussing the concepts with an adult. 
Children have a difficult time understanding just how big large numbers are. "How Much Is a Million" is a classic book that has been in print for over 25 years and has helped thousands of school age conceptualize large numbers. The book begins with "If one million kids climbed onto one another's shoulders, they would be taller than the tallest buildings, higher than the highest mountains...". The amusing, detailed illustrations bring the words alive. Every child should read this book.
This is not your typical alphabet book with sea life. For each letter of the alphabet, there are several, frequently unusual, ocean creatures colorfully profiled. For example, the letter N includes narwhal, nautilus, neptune's cup, and nurse shark. This book has illustrations rather than photographs. 
Spelunker, echolocation, and troglobite are just three of the 20 vocabulary words that children will be introduced to when reading Caves. This book covers the formation of and structures and within caves and includes views into some of the most famous caves in the world.
Volcanoes introduces children to the concepts of tectonic plates, the three different types of volcanoes, and how volcanoes work. In addition, the book covers the most notable volcanic erruptions in history along with current active volcanoes. This is a great, all-encompassing reader on the topic of volcanoes and lively photographs.
This wonderful book is not only a biography of Sir Issac Newton, but it also explains Newton's theories and discoveries and presents easy experiements to illustrate the concepts. For example, Newton's second law (if you apply force to an object, it will move) is demonstrated by using a skateboard. As a biography, this book takes a unvarnished view of his life. As the author states, "Isolated, snobbish, and jealous, Newton could hold a grudge for a lifetime, and he did...he had few friends". Yet, Newton was brillant and changed how we know our world. 
If your child is intrigued by space, they will enjoy this book about the international space station. This book includes fascinating facts on the space station and covers why it was built, who uses it, and what is done with it today. Intriguing questions such as "how do astronauts shower? are answered. The illustrations are kid appropriate and amusing with diagrams.
