A look into some great titles that inspire young readers to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math, in honor of National STEM Day (Nov. 8)
We love books that inspire readers to get out of their comfort zone and discover new skills! Whether it’s a recipe book or a graphic novel about science, we believe there’s a book out there for every kid to have fun and learn (yeah, learning is fun, y’all!). In honor of National STEM Day, we pulled some books that encourage young readers to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math, and we wanted to share them with you!
Can you believe there’s books about quantum physics and organic chemistry for BABIES? Yup. Author Chris Ferrie takes subjects like evolution and the solar system and makes them accessible with these vibrant and playful board books. Focusing on the general concepts, they are technically for babies, but let’s be honest… we flipped through those pages and learned A LOT. If you’re looking for something with a little more meat, Kids IM Staci is in love with Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth, a gorgeous picture book by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton, which explores the beauty of the organisms, big and small, that inhabit our world. This is a great holiday gift for readers looking to learn more about our ecosystems and classification, with drawings that are beautiful enough to frame! If you love Many as much as we do, check out Nicola Davies’ other books about science, such as Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes and Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals.
Shopping for a slightly older reader? Dive into Sean Connolly’s Book of Ingeniously Daring Chemistry, a great introduction to chemistry with 20+ experiments that are hands-on and just a teensy bit messy– and that’s precisely why we love it so much! We had the pleasure of hosting Sean Connolly in schools for his book Massively Epic Engineering Disasters. In his presentation, he selected several historical events retold in the book and paired them with science experiments that can be done with simple supplies. By far the students’ favorite demonstration from his talk involved measuring the width of the library using a student’s body as the unit of measure. The historical background involved college students at MIT who decided to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge using their friend Oliver Smoot as the unit of measure. The bridge’s length was measured to be 364 smoots plus or minus one ear. Mr. Connolly had two students carry a third student across the library and keep track of the units! The kids loved this experiment and were engaged and laughing the entire time!
Maybe you’re interested in building an app or creating your own game? Yup, there’s a book for that. Get Coding! is a crazy-fun guide for tech-savvy kids AND beginners. We may have lost track of time at the Kids desk, poring through the missions and interactive projects that fill the pages of this book!
Curious to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and math? Have a little one at home who’s fascinated by animals or wants to get messy with marshmallows, a calculator, and a ruler? Come see us for more recommendations!
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