JoinBest STEM Books K–12
Books Published in 2024
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.
We have chosen titles that provoke readers to examine the “thinking stance” of characters—not simply to look at actions and results.
Winning Titles
American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
By: Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein
Penguin Young Readers / G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Artificial Intelligence
Edited by Avery Elizabeth Hurt
Rosen Publishing / Greenhaven Publishing
Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber
By: Sarah Albee, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen
Charlesbridge
Building a Beak: How a Toucan's Rescue Inspired the World
By: Becca McMurdie, illustrated by Diana Hernández
Page Street Publishing / Page Street Kids
Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees, and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities
By: Stephanie Gibeault, illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett
Candlewick Press / MIT Kids Press
Codebreaker Charlotte
By: Cedar Wang
Clavis Publishing
Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep
By: Jeanne W. Harvey, illustrated by Melodie Stacey
Abrams Books / Cameron Kids
The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II
By: Candace Fleming
Scholastic / Scholastic Focus
Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube
By: Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer
Peachtree
Evidence!: How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera
By: Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Nik Henderson
Random House Children's Books
The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America's Cook
By: Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Susan Reagan
Astra Books for Young Readers / Calkins Creek
How Do You Turn Data into Drawings?: A Statistics Book about Graphs and Data
By: Clayton Grider, illustrated by Srimalie Bassani
Flowerpot Press
How to Explain Robotics to a Grown-Up
By: Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Teresa Martínez
Charlesbridge
The Iguanodon's Horn: How Artists and Scientists Put a Dinosaur Back Together Again and Again and Again
By: Sean Rubin
HarperCollins / Clarion Books
The Little Green Swing (Little Ruby's Big Ideas)
By: Brenda Maier, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez
Scholastic / Scholastic Press
Planning Grandma's Party: Measurements, Fractions, and Fun
By: Lenka Chytilova/Helena Harastova, illustrated by Xiana Teimoy
Albatros Media
The Shape of Things: How Mapmakers Picture Our World
By: Dean Robbins, illustrated by Matt Tavares
Random House Children's Books
Skybound!: Starring Mary Myers as Carlotte, Daredevil Aeronaut and Scientist
By: Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
Astra Books for Young Readers / Calkins Creek
Sustainable Structures: 15 Eco-Conscious Buildings Around the World
By: Kate McMillan
Holiday House
Unlocking the Universe: The Cosmic Discoveries of the Webb Space Telescope
By: Suzanne Slade
Charlesbridge
Up Periscope!: How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding
By: Jennifer Swanson, illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison
Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Urban Coyotes (Scientists in the Field)
By: Mary Kay Carson, illustrated by Tom Uhlman
HarperCollins / Clarion Books
Whirligigs: The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson's Imagination
By: Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
Astra Books for Young Readers / Calkins Creek
The Wild River and the Great Dam: The Construction of Hoover Dam and the Vanishing Colorado River
By: Simon Boughton
Little Brown Books for Young Readers / Christy Ottaviano Books
Wildlife Crossings: Protecting Animal Pathways Around the World
By: Catherine Barr, illustrated by Christiane Engel
Candlewick Press
A Window into the Ocean Twilight Zone: Twenty-Four Days of Science at Sea
By: Michelle Cusolito
Charlesbridge
Yumbo Gumbo
By: Keila V. Dawson, illustrated by Katie Crumpton
Charlesbridge