Best STEM Books K–12: 2022

Amara and the Bats

Emma Reynolds

Simon & Schuster / Atheneum Books for Young Readers

A young girl, Amara, takes on an authentic problem.  Bats that were once at the park are no longer habitants.  Through research, perseverance, and collaboration she is able to bring the bats back.

Artificial Intelligence

Dinah Williams

Starry Forest Books

This book contains activities and experiments to help you learn more about artificial intelligence—the process by which machines learn to act like a human brain.

Benoit Mandelbrot: Reshaping the World

Robert Black

Royal Fireworks Press

Both a biography and an exploration of fractals this book shows the development and impact Mandelbrot’s work had on the world around us.

Bicycle: Eureka! The Biography of an Idea

Lori Haskins Houran

Illustrated by Aaron Cushley

Astra Books for Young Readers / Astra Publishing House / Kane Press

Bicycles have been around for over two hundred years and this easy-to-read book explains how they have evolved and improved tremendously in that time.

A Shot in the Arm: Big Ideas that Changed the World #3

Don Brown

Abrams / Amulet Books

Tracing the story of vaccines from smallpox to COVID-19 in an accessible and engaging graphic novel.

Bones Unearthed (Creepy and True #3)

Kerrie Logan Hollihan

Abrams / Abrams Books for Young Readers

What secrets are uncovered when old bones are unearthed?  See how the science and technology of DNA has changed over the years helping unearth the mysteries of bones right beneath our feet.

Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid

Victoria Tentler-Krylov

Scholastic

Zaha Hadid liked to challenge the architectural rules. Learn how she modeled innovation and explored multiple solutions to create amazing architectural feats.  Her building designs have become some of the most famous in the world.

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer

Traci Sorell

Illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Lerner Publishing Group/Millbrook Press ™

This book follows the interests and career of Mary Golda Ross – A Cherokee woman and one of the first female mathematicians and engineers working for NASA.

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars

Laurie Wallmark

Illustrated by Brooke Smart

Abrams / Abrams Books for Young Readers

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter follows the life of brilliant code breaker Elizebeth Friedman.  As a pioneer in cryptology, Elizebeth’s work no doubt saved countless in both world wars.

Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood's Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife

Meeg Pincus

Illustrated by Alexander Vidal

Simon & Schuster / Beach Lane Books

The tale of P-22 and an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems in the complex environment of wildlife and humans in the dwindling amounts of Southern California open space.

Eat Bugs! #1: Project Startup

Heather Alexander

Penguin Young Readers / Penguin Workshop

Based on a true story of two young ladies who pursued their dream through the entrepreneurship process and founded Chirps.  This company creates sustainable food products from cricket flour.

Einstein: The Fantastic Journey of a Mouse Through Space and Time

Torben Kuhlmann

Simon & Schuster

A fictionalized story of a mouse with a lot of questions. Einstein wonders about time, clocks and mechanisms and takes us on an adventure through his STEM experiments and quest for understanding.

From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves

Vivian Kirkfield

Illustrated by Gilbert Ford

HarperCollins Children’s Books / Clarion Books

Celebrate technological innovations that have helped people move across the globe. Explore the failures, successes, and experimentation that brought about change in transportation systems. Charming cartoon-like illustrations, running timelines, and resources help to tell the stories of twelve highly inventive minds.

Glasses: Eureka! The Biography of an Idea

Lori Haskins Houran

Illustrated by John Joven

Astra Books for Young Readers / Astra Publishing House / Kane Press

This simple, yet interesting book recounts the history of the development of eyeglasses, beginning over 2,000 years ago!

The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem

Colleen Paeff

Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Simon & Schuster

Discover how one plucky 19^th-century engineer solved a foul situation in London’s Thames River.

Lady Bird Johnson, That's Who!: The Story of a Cleaner and Greener America

Tracy Nelson Maurer

Illustrated by Ginnie Hsu

Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Henry Holt and Co.

In the 60’s who took on the beautification of the US by planting trees and plants on thousands of miles of American roadways?  Lady Bird Johnson, the first lady, that’s who!  She also began initiatives to protect the redwoods, clean rivers, and stop pollution.

The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest

Heather Lang

Illustrated by Jana Christy

Astra Books for Young Readers / Astra Publishing House / Calkins Creek

A story of Margaret Lowman’s dream to learn about trees. Her path describes her emerging STEM thinking, problem solving, how she came to study rainforest canopies and her creative approach to help others discover and learn about the rainforest.

A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla

Azadeh Westergaard

llustrated by Júlia Sardà

Penguin Young Readers / Viking BFYR

A wonderful introduction for young readers to the life and groundbreaking work of Nikola Tesla. Told through detailed and stylized illustrations that explore Tesla’s genius and humanity. Author’s notes give the reader more insight into Tesla’s life and work.

Light Bulb: Eureka! The Biography of an Idea

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Illustrated by Stephanie Dehennin

Astra Books for Young Readers / Astra Publishing House / Kane Press

Geared toward young readers, this book describes the trial and error process in the development of Thomas Edison’s light bulb.

Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi!

Art Coulson

Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Charlesbridge

A young Cherokee boy is faced with a problem; how can he build a container to fit in his grandmother’s booth so he can sell marbles?  Repeated trials, divergent thinking and looking at multiple solutions he is able to figure it out.

Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum

Natasha Yim

Illustrated by Violet Kim

Charlesbridge

Luna and her brothers tackle the problem of equally splitting the pork buns while eating Dim Sum for her birthday. The book helps to demonstrate divergent thinking and problem solving while investigating a math problem.

Maxine Greatest Garden Ever

Ruth Spiro

Illustrated by Holly Hatam

Penguin Young Readers / Dial Books

This book tells the story of how two friends use the Engineering Design Process to create a garden as they also develop their friendship.

Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature

Kristen Nordstrom

Illustrated by Paul Boston

Charlesbridge

Short vignettes, beautifully illustrated, show how nature has inspired inventors to develop many modern technologies.

Molly and the Mathematical Mysteries: Ten Interactive Adventures in Mathematical Wonderland

Eugenia Cheng

Illustrated by Aleksandra Artymowska

Candlewick Press / Big Picture Press

Mathematical mysteries are unveiled as Molly takes on a challenge presented to her that involves a wide range of math topics beyond numbers. Each challenge is explained in the end notes to engage the reader in their own investigation.

Race to the Bottom of the Earth: Surviving Antarctica

Rebecca E. F. Barone

Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Henry Holt and Co.

Follow along as Antarctic explorers—both historical and contemporary—embark on an adventure of a lifetime using STEM thinking to reach their goal and stay alive!

Scene of The Crime: Tracking Down Criminals with Forensic Science

Hp Newquist

Penguin Young Readers / Viking BFYR

CSI. NCIS. Cold Case; not just for television.  How do agencies track down criminals using forensic science?  Dive deep into the minds of criminal investigators as they solve well-known crimes through actual cases.

Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power, Revolutionary Marine Scientist

Evan Griffith

Illustrated by Joannie Stone

HarperCollins Children’s Books / Clarion Books

A curiosity of what lies within the ocean set the wheels in motion for Jeanne Powers.  Her persistent and ground breaking research unlocks the mysteries of the amazing sea animals that live beneath the water’s surface.

Someone Builds the Dream

Lisa Wheeler

Illustrated by Loren Long

Penguin Young Readers / Dial Books

This richly illustrated and beautifully told book exposes children to non-traditional STEM work not done inside of a laboratory. Readers learn the importance of all jobs in the creation of the human-engineered world.

The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe

Sandra Nickel

Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro

Abrams / Abrams Books for Young Readers

The Stuff Between the Stars tells the story of Vera Rubin’s love for space and the discoveries she made about the universe. Determination and grit helped Vera share her discoveries as she became an important figure in astronomy.

Thank You, Dr. Salk!: The Scientist Who Beat Polio and Healed the World

Dean Robbins

Illustrated by Mike Dutton

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The development of the vaccine for the polio epidemic was told through the life of Dr. Jonas Salk the inventor of the polio vaccine.

Uma Wimple Charts Her House

Reif Larsen

Illustrated by Ben Gibson

Random House Children's Books / Anne Schwartz Books

Uma makes charts and is quite good at it. When given an assignment to chart her house, she finds that she must first determine what the characteristics of a house include before deciding to chart her family.

Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections

Rowena Rae

Orca Book Publishers

Explore and celebrate your watershed! This is an engaging book for upper elementary and middle school readers on the importance of watersheds, the issues facing them, and how citizen scientists are making a difference to improve the health of watersheds around the globe.

What Is Nintendo?

Gina Shaw

Penguin Young Readers / Penguin Workshop

What is Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda?  Two amazing games developed by Nintendo.  Explore how a business that started by selling playing cards evolved into a company that invented the first gaming console.

Wonder Women of Science: Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World

Tiera Fletcher and Ginger Rue

Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

Candlewick Press

Be inspired as you read the highly engaging biographies of twelve diverse female scientists and engineers actively engaged in the STEM fields, who are solving today’s problems. Discover what sparked their paths into STEM careers.