JoinBest STEM Books 2021
STEM books offer endless opportunities for engaged learning. They invite students to see the world differently and to think in new ways about what they observe.
We have chosen titles that provoke readers to examine the “thinking stance” of characters—not simply to look at actions and results.
Best STEM Books winners explore problems and possible solutions in the scientific world and, where applicable, in the lives of the protagonists. Instead of focusing on specific content, the Best STEM Books emphasize real-world issues that cross disciplinary boundaries.
Teachers can use these books to foster and model “minds-on” work. Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers can involve even the very youngest children in the process of STEM thinking.
How do we prepare 21st-century kids for challenges and jobs that we at present cannot even describe? The Best STEM Books help by celebrating convergent and divergent thinking, analysis and creativity, persistence, and the sheer joy of figuring things out.
Winning Titles
Ada Lovelace (The First Names Series)
Ben Jeapes
Illustrated by Nick Ward
ABRAMS / Abrams Books for Young Readers
How did the first computer come to be? Explore Ada Lovelace's determination, imagination, and amazing life as she becomes the brains behind the creation of the computers.
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team
Christina Soontornvat
Candlewick Press
Suspense and perseverance combine with STEM in this thrilling account of the rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach who were trapped for 17 days in a flooded cave.
Beastly Bionics: Rad Robots, Brilliant Biomimicry, and Incredible Inventions Inspired by Nature
Jennifer Swanson
National Geographic Children's Books
Explore the ways that engineers look to nature to solve problems. Using vivid photographs, this book highlights inventions like spider robots, firefly lightbulbs, turtle body armor, and more.
Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
Tonya Bolden
ABRAMS / Abrams Books for Young Readers
Meet more than 50 black women who advanced progress in medicine, engineering, computer science, and more despite societal barriers against black women in the academy and the laboratory.
Galileo! Galileo!
Holly Trechter and Jane Donovan
Illustrated by Holly Trechter and Jane Donovan
Sky Candle Press
The engaging tale of the Galileo probe’s mission shows the problem solving scientists and engineers faced from conception through to its final journey into Jupiter’s atmosphere in graphic novel form.
Gnu and Shrew
Danny Schnitzlein
Illustrated by Anca Sandu
Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.
This book takes young readers on a playful journey into engineering and design thinking using two delightful characters, Gnu and Shrew.
Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747
Chris Gall
Illustrated by Chris Gall
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / Roaring Brook Press
Discover the story behind the creation of Boeing’s 747 passenger plane. Through vivid illustrations and clever text, discover how engineers designed, redesigned, and persevered to bring the world’s largest and fastest passenger jet to reality.
Machines in Motion: The Amazing History of Transportation
Tom Jackson
Illustrated by Chris Mould
Bloomsbury Children's Books
For centuries humans have been solving problems about how to move things over land, water, and air. Dive into the fascinating history of machines as shared through detailed cartoons, captions, and timelines.
Machines That Think!: Big Ideas That Changed the World #2
Don Brown
ABRAMS / Amulet Books
This graphic novel traces the evolution of artificial intelligence from 820 CE Baghdad, Iraq, to the modern era that is both visually and intellectually approachable.
Marie's Ocean: Marie Tharp Maps the Mountains Under the Sea
Josie James
Illustrated by Josie James
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / Henry Holt BYR
Known as one of the greatest oceanographic cartographers, Marie Tharp's work is extraordinary as she dives deeper into the ocean beyond the water, creatures, and coral and uncovers what is underneath.
Mission to the Bottom of the Sea
Jan Leyssens
Illustrated by Joachim Sneyers
Clavis Publishing
Wanting to explore the depths of the sea but limited by the equipment of the time, William Beebe, along with engineer Otis Barton, set out to design and construct the Bathysphere. See how this innovation changed our view of the oceans.
Newton and Curie: The Science Squirrels
Daniel Kirk
ABRAMS / Abrams Books for Young Readers
Follow the adventures of Newton and Curie, inquisitive siblings who happen to be squirrels, as they investigate gravity, forces, and simple machines on the playground and in their forest home.
Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics
Laurie Wallmark
Illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg
Creston Books
Meet Sophie Kowalevski, first female mathematician. In a time when women were not permitted to be in a man's world, Sophie's drive and persistence paved a way for all young girls to learn and develop a love of math.
The Polio Pioneer
Linda Elovitz Marshall
Illustrated by Lisa Anchin
Random House Children's Books / Alfred A. Knopf BFYR
Have you wondered who makes vaccines and how they do it? This book tells the story of Jonas Salk who worked on a successful flu vaccine among other vaccines.
"Smelly" Kelly and His Super Senses: How James Kelly's Nose Saved the New York City Subway
Beth Anderson
Illustrated by Jenn Harney
Boyds Mills & Kane / Calkins Creek
This is the humorous, true story of James “Smelly” Kelly and how his extraordinary sense of smell saved the New York City subway in the early 1900s.
Spaceman (Adaptation for Young Readers): The True Story of a Young Boy's Journey to Becoming an Astronaut
Mike Massimino
Random House Children's Books / Delacorte BFYR
Written especially for young readers, this autobiography is the incredible story of Mike Massimino’s arduous journey to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut.
Who Gives a Poop?: Surprising Science From One End to the Other
Heather L. Montgomery
llustrated by Iris Gottlieb
Bloomsbury Children's Books
From laboratories to forests, and hospitals to landfills, join us on a learning adventure that is #1 about #2! Learn from scientists and engineers doing their business to investigate the fascinating world of poop using STEM thinking and problem solving.
Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane
Kirsten Larson
Illustrated by Tracy Subisak
Boyds Mills & Kane / Calkins Creek
Emma Lilian Todd’s persistence through failures and revisions resulted in her becoming the first woman to design a successful airplane – an inspiring story of a great inventor.
Work It, Girl: Blast Off Into Space Like Mae Jemison
Caroline Moss
Illustrated by Sinem Erkas
Quarto Group / Frances Lincoln Children's Books
An inspiring, engaging, and empowering look into Mae Jemison’s positive impact, not only on the scientific community, but on the world. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” —Mae Jemison
