Math in Literacy
The Math in Literacy Projects engages K-6 students in STEM through children’s picture books on non-STEM topics that focus on diverse cultural and social issues, written and illustrated by those from diverse communities and uses them as a springboard to foster meaningful, interdisciplinary learning and discussions.
Below you will find a collection of resources associated with books on a wide range of topics (with more being added regularily).
As this is a new project for us and we’d truly appreciate your feedback on what you like and how we can improve.
You can also email Pamela Brittain, K – 12 Academic Programs Coordinator, at pbrittai@fieldsinstitute.ca
Come explore space and the world around us as we explore Ojiig’s adventure to a new city.
Synopsis copied from GoodMinds.com
Brittany Luby, of Anishinaabe descent, was raised on Treaty #3 Lands in what is now known as northwestern Ontario. Natasha Donovan is a Métis illustrator originally from Vancouver, British Columbia.
A heartwarming book from creators of Indigenous and Métis descent about the power of story and tradition to help navigate change
How does a strange new place become home?
When Ojiig moves to the city with his family, he misses everything they left behind. Most of all, he misses the sparkling night sky. Without the stars watching over him, he feels lost.
His parents try to help, but nothing seems to work. Not glow-in-the-dark sticker stars, not a star-shaped nightlight. But then they have a new idea for how to make Ojiig feel better — a special quilt stitched through with family stories that will wrap Ojiig in the warmth of knowing who he is and where he came from. Join this irresistible family as they discover the power of story and tradition to make a new place feel like home.
Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. But most of all, Morris loves his classroom’s dress-up center and its tangerine dress. In this activity we learn about what it’s like to go to space and what we might find when we get there!
Synopsis copied from Groundwood Books
Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. He dreams about having space adventures, paints beautiful pictures and sings the loudest during circle time. But most of all, Morris loves his classroom’s dress-up center — he loves wearing the tangerine dress.
But the children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses, they say, are for girls. And Morris certainly isn’t welcome in the spaceship some of his classmates are building. Astronauts, they say, don’t wear dresses.
One day when Morris feels all alone, and sick from the taunts of his classmates, his mother lets him stay home from school. Morris reads about elephants, and puts together a puzzle, and dreams of a fantastic space adventure with his cat, Moo.
Inspired by his dream, Morris paints the incredible scene he saw, and brings it with him to school. He builds his own spaceship, hangs his painting on the front of it and takes two of his classmates on an outer space adventure.
Come join in on the fun of cooking and growing your own food in a community kitchen and garden!
Synopsis copied from Groundwood Books
Tie on your apron!
Roll up your sleeves!
Pans are out, oven is hot.
The kitchen’s all ready,
Where do we start?
In this lively, rousing picture book from Caldecott Honoree Jillian Tamaki, a crew of resourceful neighbours come together to prepare a meal for their community. With a garden full of produce, a joyfully chaotic kitchen and a friendly meal shared at the table, Our Little Kitchen is a celebration of full bellies and people looking out for one another.
Includes two recipes and an author’s note about the volunteering experience that inspired the book.
Come join Nikki and her family as they travel from Toronto to the Bronx, NY in the 1980’s using a Road Atlas to find their way. Learn about 2D map navigation and modern day GPS.
Synopsis copied from Groundwood Books
No one knows maps like Nikki — but can she get her family to Grandma’s house in time?
Nikki’s family is preparing for a long road trip from Toronto to the Bronx to attend Uncle Travis’s wedding. They pack their suitcases, boxes of Jamaican black cake, and most importantly to Nikki, the big map book!
Nikki loves geography and enjoys tracing the routes to all the places her relatives live — her Grandpa in Florida, her cousins in Atlanta, DC, and Boston. She daydreams of England, where other family lives, and Jamaica and Africa, where her roots run deep.
Her attention comes back to the road trip when it’s clear that Daddy’s taken a wrong turn. “I can help!” says Nikki, who proves to be an excellent navigator. She guides them back to the Bronx Expressway, under the elevated subway tracks, onto a street of brown row houses and safely to Grandma’s.
Inspired by the childhoods of author Nadia L. Hohn and illustrator TeMika Grooms, Getting Us to Grandma’s is full of fun historic details — a world before Google Maps! — and authentic cultural moments shared by diasporic families, whose stories can be traced across continents. A fantastic representation of Black girls in STEM.
Coming Soon
We are super excited to be partnering with Groundwood Books (House of Anansi press) and we are currently working on resources for the following books (so check back often):
-
- Two Drops of Brown in a Cloud of White (Written by: Saumiya Balasubramaniam, Illustrated by: Eva Campbell)
- Africville (Written by: Shauntay Grant, Illustrated by: Eva Campbell)
- One Can (Written by: Lana Button, Written by: Eric Walters, Illustrated by: Isabelle Malenfant)
- When I Visited Grandma (Written by: Saumiya Balasubramaniam, Illustrated by: Kavita Ramchandran)
- Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh / This Is How I Know: Niibing, dgwaagig, bboong, mnookmig dbaadjigaade maanpii mzin’igning / A Book about the Seasons (Written by: Brittany Luby, Illustrated by: Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, Translated by: Alvin Ted Corbiere, Translated by: Alan Corbiere)
- Sundays Are for Feasts (Written by: Leila Boukarim, Illustrated by: Ruaida Mannaa)
Our sincere thanks to our publishing partner Groundwood Books, part of the House of Anasi Publishing, for their support of this project.
Math in Literacy was proud to be a part of Science Literacy Week 2025
