12 Best STEM Books for Kids
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12 fun and educational books for your child to learn to love science, technology, engineering and math.
One of the most fun aspects of becoming a parent is forging full steam ahead into curating your child’s library. Story time is an important aspect of parenting, and each opportunity to read together is a chance to further stimulate your child’s appetite for knowledge, imagination, and understanding of the world around them.
In fact, a 2007 Harvard University report on The Science of Early Childhood Development suggests that parental attention to young children’s mastery of literacy impacts the development of sturdy brain architecture and preparation for success in school.
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is an area that’s critical for our next generation of children to flourish. STEM is important because it pervades every area of our lives today and it’s an increasing economic driver for our nation — STEM jobs are growing at a rate of nearly double other occupations (17% vs. 9%).
Yet, many socioeconomic studies indicate that both minorities and females are underrepresented in STEM from cradle to college.
If you think that STEM-themed books are beyond a toddler's comprehension, think again. Research indicates that all children are born to be scientific.
According to leading education nonprofit Common Sense, “researchers have documented children conducting systematic experiments as early as the first year of life. For example, babies, only hours after birth, experiment with cause and effect as they realize that putting their own thumbs in their mouths makes them feel better; toddlers push their sippy cups off the edges of their high chairs over and over and over again to test the limits of gravity; and preschoolers are eager to understand why their clothes no longer fit (life sciences) and are obsessed with the fair distribution of communal snacks (math).”
These innate instincts must be encouraged to develop by parents. While one approach could be to offer your child STEM toys, to give your child a great introduction to these subjects, here are some of the best STEM books available for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school-age kids.
2024 STEM-Themed Children’s Book List
Age Range: 3 Months to 3 Years
Hello, World! Solar System by Jill McDonald
Every young child loves to look up at the moon in the night sky. Now here’s a Hello, World! board book that can teach toddlers all about the sun, moon, stars, and planets — with colors, shapes, sizes, and super-simple facts.
Age Range: 3 Months to 3 Years
Baby 101: Architecture for Babies by Jonathan Litton
Think architecture isn’t for little ones? This informational board book distills architectural concepts into manageable pieces. Topics include child-friendly text about architectural history, with illustrations of an early hut, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Colosseum; varieties of construction materials; and different architectural styles.
Age Range: 3 Months to 3 Years
Baby Loves Coding! by Ruth Spiro
Accurate enough to satisfy an expert, yet simple enough for baby, this clever board book showcases the use of logic, sequence, and patterns to solve problems. Can Baby think like a coder to fix her train? Beautiful, visually stimulating illustrations complement age-appropriate language to encourage baby’s sense of wonder.
Age Range: 1–3 Years
Baby’s First Things That Go by Saviour Pirotta
Discover all the THINGS THAT GO, from race cars and fire trucks, to tractors and bulldozers. Playful illustrations and easy text bring vehicles to life for your baby.
Age Range: 1–3 Years
Quantum Physics for Babies by Chris Ferri
Written by an expert, Quantum Physics for Babies is a wonderfully simple introduction to the principle that gives quantum physics its name. Babies (and grownups!) will discover that the wild world of atoms never comes to a standstill. With a tongue-in-cheek approach that adults will love, this installment of the Baby University board book series is the perfect way to introduce basic concepts to even the youngest scientists. After all, it’s never too early to become a quantum physicist!
Age Range: 1–3 Years
ABCs of Biology by Chris Ferrie
From anatomy to zoology, the ABCs of Biology is a delightful introduction for babies — and grownups — to a new biology concept for every letter of the alphabet.
Age Range: 4–8 Years
How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk
From the computer science nonprofit Girls Who Code comes this lively and funny story introducing kids to computer coding concepts. All summer, Pearl has been trying to build the perfect sandcastle, but out-of-control Frisbees and mischievous puppies keep getting in the way! Pearl and her robot friend Pascal have one last chance, and this time, they’re going to use code to get the job done. Using fundamental computer coding concepts like sequences and loops, Pearl and Pascal are able to break down their sandcastle problem into small, manageable steps. If they can create working code, this could turn out to be the best beach day ever!
Age Range: 5–8 Years
I Am Marie Curie by Brad Meltzer
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, physicist and chemist Marie Curie is the 19th hero in the New York Times bestselling picture book biography series about heroes. This is a great book for children to learn at a young age about important historical figures in science.
Age Range: 4–8 Years
Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford
When I looked up, I shivered. How many stars were in the sky? A million? A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity? Here is a simplified introduction to a difficult topic. Lovely illustrations and thoughtful conversations about what infinity means will help open your child’s mind to higher levels of awareness.
Age Range: 4–8 Years
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
This book captures the wonder of Einstein’s theories in very basic terms for children. The book emphasizes the most amazing trait that all humans share — a natural burning curiosity about the world around them.
Age Range: 5–9 Years
Introduce your child to shapes with Triangle, about a character shape who lives in a triangle house, with a triangular door, in a neighborhood full of triangles. One day he decides that he wants to play a sneaky trick on his friend, Square. So off he goes to Square’s house. It’s a long walk to his house, past lots of shapes, and non-shapes, until he reaches Square’s house, with his square door, living in the square neighborhood.
Age Range: 6–9 Years
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D’Agnese
Encourage your child’s interest in math with the story of Leonardo Fibonacci, a young boy in medieval Italy who thought about numbers day and night. He was such a daydreamer that people called him a blockhead. When Leonardo grew up and traveled the world, he was inspired by the numbers used in different countries. Then he realized that many things in nature, from the number of petals on a flower to the spiral of a nautilus shell, seem to follow a certain pattern. The boy who was once teased for being a blockhead had discovered what came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence!