Best STEM Books, 2017-2023
Resources for the titles recognized by this list since its inception in 2017 -- honoring the best children’s books with STEM content
Sponsored by Children’s Book Council (CBC)

- 2,196 Resources including
- 186 Videos
- 77 Book Readings
- 192 Lesson Plans
- List Analysis Report
Showing 1-48 of 174 book results

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team
(Selection, 2021)
50 Resources19 Awards

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer
by Traci Sorell and Natasha Donovan
(Selection, 2022)
42 Resources9 Awards

Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
by Chris Barton and Don Tate
(Selection, 2017)
38 Resources11 Awards

The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem
by Colleen Paeff and Nancy Carpenter
(Selection, 2022)
33 Resources8 Awards

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane
by Kirsten W. Larson and Tracy Subisak
(Selection, 2021)
32 Resources2 Awards


Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist
by Jess Keating and Marta Álvarez Miguéns
(Selection, 2018)
29 Resources6 Awards

Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere
by Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy
(Selection, 2019)
28 Resources10 Awards


Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain
by Cheryl Bardoe and Barbara McClintock
(Selection, 2019)
26 Resources11 Awards

Smelly Kelly and His Super Senses: How James Kelly's Nose Saved the New York City Subway
by Beth Anderson and Jenn Harney
(Selection, 2021)
25 Resources2 Awards


Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
by Laurie Wallmark and April Chu
(Selection, 2017)
24 Resources7 Awards


The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs
by Kate Messner and Matthew Forsythe
(Selection, 2019)
23 Resources8 Awards

The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons
by Natascha Biebow and Steven Salerno
(Selection, 2020)
22 Resources5 Awards


Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille
by Jen Bryant and Boris Kulikov
(Selection, 2017)
20 Resources4 Awards


Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines
by Jeanne Walker Harvey and Dow Phumiruk
(Selection, 2018)
20 Resources4 Awards

Astronaut-Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact
(Selection, 2019)
20 Resources2 Awards

Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team
by Susan Hood, Dow Phumiruk, and Pathana Sornhiran
(Selection, 2020)
20 Resources3 Awards

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
by Laurie Wallmark and Brooke Smart
(Selection, 2022)
20 Resources4 Awards

Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession
by Kate Hannigan and Zachariah O'Hora
(Selection, 2023)
20 Resources2 Awards

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer
by Diane Stanley and Jessie Hartland
(Selection, 2017)
19 Resources9 Awards

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles
by Patricia Valdez and Felicita Sala
(Selection, 2019)
19 Resources4 Awards

Blast Off!: How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America Into Space
by Suzanne Slade and Sally Wern Comport
(Selection, 2023)
19 Resources6 Awards

The Inventor's Secret: What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford
by Suzanne Slade and Jennifer Black Reinhardt
(Selection, 2017)
18 Resources3 Awards

Instructions Not Included: How a Team of Women Coded the Future
by Tami Lewis Brown, Debbie Loren Dunn, and Chelsea Beck
(Selection, 2020)
18 Resources6 Awards

A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon
by Suzanne Slade and Veronica Miller Jamison
(Selection, 2020)
18 Resources3 Awards

Save the Crash-Test Dummies
by Jennifer Swanson and Temika Grooms
(Selection, 2020)
18 Resources2 Awards

American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South
by Gail Jarrow
(Selection, 2023)
18 Resources8 Awards


Concrete: From the Ground Up
by Larissa Theule and Steve Light
(Selection, 2023)
18 Resources5 Awards


Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
by Robert Burleigh and Raúl Colón
(Selection, 2017)
17 Resources7 Awards

Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine
by Heather Lang and Raúl Colón
(Selection, 2017)
17 Resources4 Awards

Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
by Tonya Bolden
(Selection, 2021)
17 Resources3 Awards

Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics
by Laurie Wallmark and Yevgenia Nayberg
(Selection, 2021)
17 Resources2 Awards


The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest
by Heather Lang and Jana Christy
(Selection, 2022)
17 Resources4 Awards

The Mystery of the Monarchs: How Kids, Teachers, and Butterfly Fans Helped Fred and Norah Urquhart Track the Great Monarch Migration
by Barb Rosenstock and Erika Meza
(Selection, 2023)
17 Resources6 Awards

Lion Lights: My Invention That Made Peace with Lions
by Richard Turere, Shelly Pollock, and Sonia Possentini
(Selection, 2023)
17 Resources5 Awards

Ben Franklin's Big Splash: The Mostly True Story of His First Invention
by Barb Rosenstock and S.D. Schindler
(Selection, 2017)
16 Resources2 Awards

John Deere, That's Who!
by Tracy Nelson Maurer and Tim Zeltner
(Selection, 2018)
16 Resources3 Awards

Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant
by Songju Ma Daemicke and Christina Wald
(Selection, 2018)
16 Resources5 Awards