Leonardo Pisano, aka Fibonacci, was one of the greatest mathematicians Europe ever produced. He lived in the Middle Ages. But modern mathematicians never read his work because he wrote in Latin. Latin scholars know nothing about math. And mathematicians don’t read Latin. So while you can go to a bookstore and find tons of classical literature translated from the original Greek and Latin, you are unlikely to find the translated works of Fibonacci, who wrote at least five texts in his lifetime that have survived to our time.

If his work was going to be made accessible to 20th and 21st century researchers, someone would have to translate his work into a modern language. Portions of his output had been translated over the centuries, but a fresh translation would bring his work to greater audiences. That person turned out to be…

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in my professional life writing articles about the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. Most of those pieces were for math magazines aimed at kids. (I was working at Scholastic when I sold my children’s book about Fibonacci.) Then, many years ago, when I was living in Italy, I wrote about Fibonacci for a short-lived daily newsletter on Italian life and culture.

Both the editor and I were astonished by the response that that tiny story. Either people had never heard of Fibonacci, the Sequence, or the Numbers. Or they knew the name from the world of investing, but did not know about Leonardo himself. That taught me a lesson: Fibonacci’s story is amazing enough to interest adults as well.

A few years ago I wrote a long post about Fibonacci books…for kids, grownups, and serious math geeks. That post ended up being very long, and I now think it makes more sense to split it up.

To that end, here’s my current recommendations for books for kids about Leonardo Fibonacci and the famous Fibonacci Sequence that bears his name. The list begins with books teachers and homeschoolers can use to the teach the Sequence. Then it moves on to books that will appeal to kids…

When I meet math teachers at schools or conferences, they assume that I am a lifelong math lover since my picture book is about Leonardo of Pisa, namesake of the Fibonacci Sequence. I should come clean. Math teachers, here’s what I’ve been ashamed to confess: When I was a kid, there was no subject I feared more than math.