50 Best STEM & Science Books for Kids

Vivi Loves Science by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes, illustrated by Joelle Murray
SCIENCE
Vivi loves science and being curious. When her class gets to go the ocean for a field trip, she learns many new, wonderful things about tide pools.

Libby Loves Science by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes, illustrated by Joelle Murray
SCIENCE
Libby loves science and experiments with recipes and experiments at school. Chemistry reminds her of cooking. At the science fair, she and her classmates need to attract more people to the booth to show that science is fun, but their experiments don’t win them the prize of an ice cream party. Their teacher reminds them that it’s about trying, not winning.

The Princess and the Petri Dish by Sue Fliess, illustrated Petros Bouloubasis
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A STEM loving princess named Pippa uses the scientific method to improve the taste of green peas. She’s successful at first but must use her skills again to solve the overgrowing pea plants which shows the kingdom that she’s the best scientist in the land.

When Grandpa Gives You a Toolbox by Jamie L. B. Deenihan, illustrated by Lorraine Rocha
ENGINEERING
The boy wanted a dollhouse but grandpa gives him a toolbox. He realizes that he can use his toolbox to build a house for a bird, help a neighbor with her mailbox, and build exactly what he wanted originally — a dollhouse. This is a special story that defies gender stereotypes, encourages creative engineering, and shows a loving relationship between grandparent and child. 

Princesses Can Fix It! by Tracy Marchini, illustrated by Julia Christians
MAKERS
A darling girl empowerment story where the princesses show their dad that they are capable and don’t need to be stuck in limiting gender roles. When the king has issues with alligators, the princesses know they can fix it. And, even though the king dismisses them, their brother the prince encourages them, and the princesses try and try until they find a solution!

How to Seesaws Go Up and Down? A Book About Simple Machines by Jennifer Shand, illustrated by Srimalie Bassani
SCIENCE – SIMPLE MACHINES
The author asks readers a question like –“Why can you almost always ride faster on a bigger bike than a smaller bike?” and adds a silly hypothesis like, “Is it because bigger bikes have secret rocket boosters?” Read more about the wheel and axel and how a big wheel gets a bigger tire turn. The author shows everyday, common objects that kids can recognize for their examples like the flag on a flagpole, a seesaw in a park, a truck going up a mountain or a screw in a piece of wood. The explanations are easy to understand in spot-on kid language. I recommend this book to introduce kids to science concepts, particularly for elementary classrooms learning about simple machines.

Jo Bright and the Seven Bots by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt
ROBOTICS
In this updated science fiction Sleeping Beauty, clever Jo loves building Bots from scratch. But the jealous queen wants to be the best bot builder — better than Jo. Rhyming, jaunty text depicts Jo befriending a dragon and fixing an enchanted dragon. They capture the queen and the mirror-bot makes Jo the new queen. It’s an engaging, girl-power STEM story that readers will love.

Robot Repairs by Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Magali Mansilla
TECHNOLOGY / ENGINEERING
Continuing the STEAM series is another story about Max and Suzy, this time about problem solving an old robot who needs fixing. The friends work together to figure out which pieces are arms and legs, attach the head, and put in new batteries. Kids will find this story interesting!

The Backyard Build by Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Magali Mansilla
ENGINEERING
Max, Suzy, and their neighbor Miss Gizmo make a plan and build a swing. Then they choose more materials and make a seesaw and a slide. The story models coming up with a plan and executing it but doesn’t go into the details of building any of these playtoys.

The Picnic Problem by Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Magali Mansilla
MATH – SHAPES, COUNTING, ADDING
From the STEAM stories series comes a new story focused on math. Max and Suzy get a letter from Miss Add-It-Up that sends them to the park to solve a math-related treasure hunt of clues. For example, “Which kite has the longest tail? Ignore the strings, so you don’t fail.” Max and Suzy compare tails of the differently shaped kites. The circle kite ends up being the winner and having their next clue. There’s a ton of fun math problems that kids can solve with the main characters as you read the story. I love that this story is actually a relatable adventure story that integrates math into it.

Matter: Physical Science for Kids by Andi Diehn, illustrated by Hui Li
SCIENCE – MATTER
Matter made understandable for kids — I love it! You are made of matter. “Matter is anything that takes up space and can be weighted. / How do you weigh things? / With a scale!” The next page asks how much you, your dog, a tree, and our shoes weigh. What about air? The book gives more info and a simple balloon experiment to show about air. I like that after the air, the book talks about juice to introduce liquids. The content of this entire book, including what isn’t matter at the end, is all an excellent introduction.

Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body by Seth Fishman, illustrated by Isabel Greenberg
SCIENCE – BODY
This book feels like a motivational speech! I’m positive it will motivate your kids to be more curious about their powerful bodies! Use this book as an introduction to studying the body or energy –it’s sure to captivate students at school and kids at home. “That little finger has enough energy to light up one of the biggest cities in the world for an entire day. That’s power for four million refrigerators, seven million TVs, eighteen hundred schools, and about twelve thousand stoplights.” Isn’t that so wild!? I think the illustrations with a main character of color are spectacular.

Matter (Hands-On Science) by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Druscilla Santiago
CHEMISTRY
This picture book is a fantastic introduction to chemistry with clear text and illustrations. Simple, interactive experiments show children hands-on examples of the states of matter from solid to gas to liquid that kids can do at home as their read and in real life. For example, “put” the sugar into juice and watch it dissolve. Next, place the juice in the freezer and close the door, aka. turn the page. While you wait, you can predict what will happen by tapping on the picture showing what you think might happen to the juice in the freezer. You’ll turn the page to see…it’s solid ice! Isn’t that brilliant and interactive!?

Jada Jones Rock Star by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton
SCIENCE (GEOLOGY)
Jada’s starts the school year hoping to find new friends, hopefully ones that love rocks as much as she does. She misses her best friend but feels excited when her class studies geology. Unfortunately, one bossy girl in Jada’s group project makes fun of Jada’s interest in rocks. Sound like real life? This is a well-written STEM-related story that shows the challenges of getting along with others and staying true to yourself. Plus, you’ll like that the main character (of color) is a big science nerd!

Parker Bell and the Science of Friendship by Cynthia Platt, illustrated by Rea Zhai
SCIENCE
Parker loves science and hopes she and her team will win a medal in the science competition. The lovely friendship and STEM book engages readers in a relatable story about Parker’s new friendships as well as using the scientific method for invention, robots, & egg drops.

Ellie, Engineer by Jackson Pearce
ENGINEERING
This is a well-written STEM adventure that makes engineering seem enticing and creative! After a disastrous “french braid machine” tangles her best friend’s hair, Ellie, who already identifies herself as an engineer, plans to make her BFF a new birthday present — a dog house, getting help from a neighbor boy and a group of girls from school who are bitter rivals up until Ellie helps them work together.

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Brian Biggs
SCIENCE, ENGINEERING
Frank is a genius inventor. When lightning sparks his robots, Klink and Klank, into life, he’s got built-in lab partners. Until Frank’s enemy steals them. Humor, technology, and science make this an appealing series.

Mad Scientist Academy: The Dinosaur Disaster by Matthew McElligott
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY
Unusual characters attend this school where their wacky science teacher has built an interactive, robotic dinosaur exhibit that accidentally come to life. If your kids love science, off-beat graphic novels, they’ll love this series that mixes science and technology with fantasy in a most entertaining way.

Ada Lace is On the Case by Emily Calandrelli with Tamson Weston, illustrated by Renee Kurilla
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY
Ada moves to a new neighborhood. She observes everything that happens out her window. After she makes friends with a neighbor girl, they notice a distraught neighbor whose dog is missing and determine to solve who took it. Together, with another neighbor boy, they use science and technology to solve the mystery of the missing dog.

Franny K. Stein by Jim Benton
SCIENCE, ENGINEERING
I adore Franny! She’s a non-social, wacky scientist kid who is always messing up her science experiments or getting into some sort of trouble. This series is totally hilarious.

Olga and the Smelly Thing From Nowhere by Elise Gravel
SCIENCE
If you LOVE kooky books, this book fits the bill. Olga finds the most unusual, unknown creature whom she names “MEH” after the sound it makes. She uses her deductive reasoning to figure out what it is (something new!) and what it likes to eat (olives)! But what will she do when Meh disappears? Things I love about this book: 1) the illustrations — they rock! 2) the narrator’s voice — it’s believable and funny 3) the plot — especially the mean girls who aren’t so mean after all.