Today it is critical to excite young people about mathematics in our high-tech STEM world we live in. Math teachers today need to embolden students to be confident in their ability to solve problems, to think and use their imaginations, to understand mathematical concepts, to be creative, and to see math as a human endeavor. The author feels that as students feel less anxious about, and more confident in their abilities to do math their performance will improve. The author has provided an in-depth literature review and offers background information on using children's literature to teach mathematics; sharing the methods and materials possible to incorporate such literature into such math instruction in a wide range of mathematics strands. The results of using such literature in the teaching of mathematics may help to lower math anxiety and pique students interest and confidence in math and the STEM fields. Teachers need to address this alarming problem and work toward developing mathematically confident young people for a world where Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields dominate the globe, using literature to teach mathematics can support and cultivate students' math confidence for a STEM world.