Children's literature is now recognised as a means to assist the teaching and learning of mathematics, although maintaining the integrity of both curriculum areas is a challenge for many teachers. One key issue is the level of support required by children to recognise mathematical concepts within the literature, and the sort of adaptations to text and/or illustrations needed for this to occur. This article presents the results of a study to identify the extent to which year 7 students could identify the mathematics in children's literature. The students showed that they could identify opportunities for mathematical learning present within selected children's books. In many cases they noted that these mathematical ideas were relevant to other curriculum areas and to life beyond school.