TITLE: Good math bed-time stories for children?
QUESTION [37 upvotes]: What are some good references/books/articles from which to derive some good bed-time math stories to pique a child's interest in math? I am fascinated by math (used to hate it as a kid) and want my kids to be curious about it and fond of playing with the subject.
I was thinking a good way would be to talk about the history/origins of various concepts ideas in math and present them as a "once upon a time" stories and then let them explore the ideas. As a kid I felt a story of "why" behind the what would've been motivating for me to explore the ideas in the field instead of shun them away.
What would be some good math 'stories' to tell them all the way from counting to advanced math (for when they grow older)? I don't mind reading existing books and spin a story on the topics by myself :) Any references to use in particular? Age range 3 to 18 :)

REPLY [7 votes]: Some recommended children's books - these are actual storybooks, with pictures and the like, and while they have math, they aren't math books for children, they are children's books about math (not a distinction without a difference) that tell actual mathematics stories:
For younger kids (4-6)

The Boy Who Loved Math
On a Beam Of Light
On Beyond a Million
Mr. Archimedes' Bath

For older kids (7 and up)

Sir Cumference and the Off-The-Charts Desserts (tons in this series, all great)
That's a Possibility!
A Very Improbable Story
Multiplying Menace series

And all of the Achilles and Tortoise stories in Godel, Escher, and Bach are pretty funny even for kids (although a lot of them have  material related to the words themselves (crostics, etc.), so "telling" them means you miss some of the material.)