STEM Picture Books
STEM Picture Books to add to your homeschool
Nowadays, STEM is a very popular topic in the world of learning. When you think about getting started teaching STEM you may feel overwhelmed and fear that it will be difficult. It doesn’t have to be hard or scary, there are many picture books that you can add to your read-aloud time that will help get both you and your children excited for adding more STEM into your Homeschool. Before we begin looking at this list of STEM Picture books to add to your Homeschool, take a moment to pin this to your reading board.
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STEM Books for Kids Ages 3-10
Have you looked through our STEM-themed books for babies and toddlers? Are you looking for something more? Something that older children can enjoy? These books focus are picture books perfect for children roughly 3 to 10 years old. These books primarily focus on inspiring children through fiction. These STEM titles will encourage your children to look at them to notice how science, technology, engineering, art, and math play roles in their own lives as well as to encourage them to get out there and tinker on their own.
The Most Magnificent Thing
Written and illustrated by Ashley Spires
Ages 3-7
A little girl plans to make the most magnificent thing. When building it turns out to be more difficult than she thought, she gets frustrated and quits. Her best friend, a dog, encourages her to keep trying. This quirky little tale will teach kids they, too, can build magnificent things with a little creativity and perseverance.
Doll-E 1.0
Written and illustrated by Shanda McCloskey
Ages 4- 8
Charlotte is always tinkering, coding, clicking, and downloading. She loves her technology. But, when she receives a surprise gift from her mom—a doll—she has no idea what to do with it. Once she discovers the doll’s hidden battery pack, things start to get interesting—Doll-E 1.0 is born
Rosie Revere Engineer
Written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts
Ages 5-7
Rosie loves inventing things and wants to be an engineer when she grows up. When her great-great-aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) visits her, she tells Rosie about her unaccomplished dream to fly. Rosie attempts to make a contraption that will help her aunt fly. When the invention doesn’t work, Rosie feels like a failure. But her aunt teaches her that you only really fail when you quit.
Ada Twist, Scientist
Written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts
Ages 4-8
Ada is a curious girl who loves questions, problem-solving, science, and experiments. (Even in time out!) Readers will be inspired by her enthusiastic love of learning and laugh along at her daring experiments.
Iggy Peck Architect
Written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts
Ages 4-8
Iggy has always loved to build (even when he was in diapers!), but his second-grade teacher tells Iggy that buildings aren’t allowed in second grade. However, in a serendipitous turn of events, Iggy must use his architectural skills to save the class. This delightful book is sure to inspire an interest in architecture as well as many building projects.
11 Experiments That Failed
Written by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Ages 4-8
A fun take on the scientific process that teaches kids that failure is a crucial part of learning. Is it possible to eat snowballs doused in ketchup—and nothing else—all winter? Can a washing machine wash dishes? By reading the step-by-step instructions, kids can discover the answers to such all-important questions along with the book’s curious narrator. Here are 12 “hypotheses,” as well as lists of “what you need,” “what to do,” and “what happened” that are sure to make young readers laugh out loud as they learn how to conduct science experiments (really!).
Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building
Written by Christy Hale
Ages 5- 8
A collection of concrete poetry, illustrations, and photographs that shows how young children’s constructions, created as they play, are reflected in notable works of architecture from around the world. Includes biographies of the architects, quotations, and sources
Math Curse
Written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith
Ages 3-7
Everything is a math problem with a capital “P” thanks to Mrs. Fibonacci the math teacher! It starts at 7:15 AM when a girl wakes up and remembers it takes 10 minutes to get dressed, 15 minutes to eat breakfast, and 1 minute to brush her teeth so … 1) if her bus leaves at 8:00 AM, will she make it on time? 2) how many minutes in 1 hour and 3) how many teeth in 1 mouth? This hilarious, math-disaster of a day continues with more math than you can imagine … but will it ever end?
Science Verse
Written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith
Ages 2-5
What if amoebas, combustion, metamorphosis, viruses, the creation of the universe are all irresistible, laugh-out-loud poetry? Well, you’re thinking in science verse, that’s what. And if you can’t stop the rhymes . . . the atomic joke is on you. This book makes science so much fun!
Infinity and Me
Written by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
Ages 5-10
“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?”
Uma can’t help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.
Hello Ruby Adventures in Coding
Written by Linda Liukas
Ages 4-8
Your little programmer can help Ruby and her friends find five hidden gems in this problem-solving adventure. Kids will love learning about coding and how to break down big problems into smaller ones by helping Ruby choose her clothes, make maps, organize tea parties, and more fun activities.
Galimoto
Written by Karen Lynn Williams and illustrated by Catherine Stock
Ages 4-8
Kondi is determined to make a galimoto—a toy vehicle made of wires. His brother laughs at the idea, but all day Kondi goes about gathering up the wire he needs. By nightfall, his wonderful galimoto is ready for the village children to play within the light of the moon.
Creatrilogy
Written by Peter H. Reynolds
Ages 5-9
Turn STEM into STEAM with the “Creatrilogy” books. This best selling trio of books about the ability of small moments to transform into big creative endeavors. Each one encourages kids to look around them to find the art in their own world.
Melia and Jo
Written by Billy Aronson and illustrated by Jennifer Oxley
Ages 4-7
Melia is scientific and loves to create things in her backyard laboratory, but something is missing. Her inventions just aren’t quite right. Enter Jo, her new friend with an artistic spirit. When you add the arts to the sciences, something magical happens! This whimsically illustrated picture book is the perfect introduction to the benefits of the STEAM-focused curriculum.
Interstellar Cinderella
Written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Meg Hunt
Ages 3-5
Your kid will love this futuristic retelling of the classic story. Cinderella is a rocket-ship mechanic. She plans to attend the ball with the help of her fairy godrobot. When the prince’s rocket has mechanical trouble, it’s up to Cinderella to save the day!
Not Just Another Princess Story
Written by Sheri Radford and illustrated by Qin Leng
Ages 6 -9
After the king declares it’s time for Princess Candi to get married, the math-loving princess decides to carry out a husband search on her own. Not knowing how to find such a creature, she turns to fairy tales for inspiration and ends up using every method in the books, from kissing frogs to slaying monsters. But will she find her Prince Charming? Or just a bunch of duds who cheat, cry and make armpit noises? This swashbuckling tale is brimming with romance, algebra problems, and at least one very large pickle.
The Dreamer
Written by Il Sunga Na
This pig loves to watch the birds and he dreams of flying just like them. So he sets out to build a flying machine. It’s not easy and it takes many, many tries and a lot of perseverance, but he does it, and yes, when you finish this book you, too, will have seen a pig fly
Bright Sky, Starry City
Written by Uma Krishnaswami illustrated by Aimee Sicuro
Ages 6-9
Pheobe’s father owns a telescope shop. Pheobe is excited that she will be able to see Mars and Saturn at the same time in the night sky. But the bright lights of the city make it impossible to see them. Luckily the power goes out so everyone in the city is able to see the beautiful night sky.
Jackrabbit McCabe & The Electric Telegraph
Written by Lucy Margaret Rozier and illustrated by Leo Espinosa
Ages 4-8
This tall tale introduces readers to the invention of the electric telegraph. Jackrabbit McCabe is the fastest man in the West. But when the telegraph is invented he enters a race to see who can deliver a message the fastest. There is also an author’s note about Morse Code along with a riddle for children to decode.
The Kids’ Book of Simple Machines
Written by Kelly Doudna
Ages 5-9
With this fun activity book, kids will learn about six simple machines: wheel and axle, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, and inclined plane. They’ll discover how these basic machines make life easier and how to make their own by following step-by-step instructions.
Lift-the-Flap Computers and Coding
Written by Rosie Dickins and illustrated by Shaw Nielsen
Ages 7+
Have you ever wondered what goes on inside computers? This colorful introduction to coding and computing will teach kids the basics. They can discover facts by lifting the interactive flaps and then test their skills with fun activities, like counting in binary, matching numbers to colors, and a doing a treasure hunt that involves coding, algorithms and flow charts.
I hope that you enjoy these STEM-based picture books as much as we have in our homeschool. For even more titles check out our STEM picture booklist on amazon.