Best STEM Books K–12

Books Published in 2025

Best STEM Books winners explore problems and possible solutions in the scientific world and, where applicable, in the lives of the protagonists. Instead of focusing on specific content, the Best STEM Books emphasize real-world issues that cross disciplinary boundaries.

We have chosen titles that provoke readers to examine the “thinking stance” of characters—not simply to look at actions and results.

Winning Titles

CLIMATE: How Wladimir Köppen Studied the Weather and Drew the First Climate Map

CLIMATE: How Wladimir Köppen Studied the Weather and Drew the First Climate Map

By: Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Peter Willis
Mims House

Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation

Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation

By: Fred Estes
Lerner Publishing Group / Twenty-First Century Books

Detective Dogs: How Working Dogs Sniff Out Invasive Species

Detective Dogs: How Working Dogs Sniff Out Invasive Species

By: Alison Pearce Stevens
Holiday House

Firefly Song: Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery

Firefly Song: Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery

By: Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing / Margaret K. McElderry Books

The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape

The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape

By: Amy Alznauer, illustrated by Anna Bron
Candlewick Press

The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I. M. Pei

The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I. M. Pei

By: Jeanne Walker Harvey, illustrated by Khoa Le
Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing / Atheneum Books for Young Readers

The Great Pollinator Count

The Great Pollinator Count

By: Susan Edwards Richmond, illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman
Peachtree

The Green Maowusu

The Green Maowusu

By: Xuefei Duan
Clavis Publishing

Jeremy, the English Garden Snail: Heredity, Citizen Science, and #snaillove

Jeremy, the English Garden Snail: Heredity, Citizen Science, and #snaillove

By: Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Olga Gonina
Mims House

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

By: Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Brittany Cicchese
Charlesbridge

Many Voices: Building Erie, the Canal that Changed America

Many Voices: Building Erie, the Canal that Changed America

By: Laurie Lawlor
Holiday House

Measuring Up: How Oliver Smoot Became a Standard Unit of Measurement

Measuring Up: How Oliver Smoot Became a Standard Unit of Measurement

By: Jenny Lacika, illustrated by Anna Bron
Candlewick Press / MIT Kids Press

Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb: Young Readers Edition of AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb: Young Readers Edition of AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

By: Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin; Adapted by Eric S. Singer
Penguin Young Readers / G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR

Rock Star: How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites

Rock Star: How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites

By: Sandra Neil Wallace, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing / Paula Wiseman Books

Safe Crossing

Safe Crossing

By: Kari Percival
Chronicle Books

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg—A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg—A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

By: Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey
Chronicle Books

Spark: Jim West's Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone

Spark: Jim West's Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone

By: Ainissa Ramirez, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey
Candlewick Press / MIT Kids Press

The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army

The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army

By: Penny Parker Klostermann and Anne Lambelet
Astra Books for Young Readers / Calkins Creek

Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe

Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe

By: Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced, illustrated by Rocío Arreola Mendoza
Charlesbridge

Who Discovered How to Breathe Underwater?: Jacques Cousteau

Who Discovered How to Breathe Underwater?: Jacques Cousteau

By: Ned Wolfe, illustrated by Caroline Hu
Penguin Young Readers / Penguin Workshop

Who Owns the Moon?: And Other Conundrums of Exploring and Using Space

Who Owns the Moon?: And Other Conundrums of Exploring and Using Space

By: Cynthia Levinson and Jennifer Swanson
Peachtree

Zero!: The Number That Almost Wasn't

Zero!: The Number That Almost Wasn't

By: Sarah Albee, illustrated by Chris Hsu
Charlesbridge