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Summer STEM Book List

  • Writer: Amy Wung Tsao
    Amy Wung Tsao
  • May 30
  • 6 min read

So you’re at the library and your kids have a fresh blank summer reading challenge chart in hand. While they’re heading towards the Dog Man graphic novels, pick up these STEM books too! 


Title reads "Kids Summer Book List with STEM!" There are several picture book covers with captions like "for your summer picnic" or "for your beach trip" or "for kids who want to live in a video game."

I’ve recommended a lot of science and math books on this blog, but in this post I’ve rounded up the absolutely most fun books with a science or math tie-in or twist. Keep reading to find out which boredom busting books will get them curious and laughing on a hot summer afternoon! 



STEM books for your summer picnic….

Cover illustration of cartoonish purple hippo, alligator, orange squirrel, and blue squirrel with glasses, clustered together at a table and staring intensely at a plate of 3 chocolate chip cookies. 

By Dan Santat


I have read this book SO many times, and I still love it deeply! Chaos ensues when 4 friends try to share 3 cookies. Younger kids can keep count as Hippo nervously breaks the cookies into smaller and smaller pieces. For older children, it’s a hilarious demonstration of fractions. For grown ups reading out loud, it’s a chance to trot out your most dramatic acting skills!


And if this book gets you hungry for more fractions, check out this post!




Cover illustration of a worm in a garden. Title reads “Worm Makes a Sandwich”, and the worm has a speech bubble reading “All by myself!”

by Brianne Farley


This little worm has promised to make you a sandwich. But first you need to bring him some garbage. No, the garbage isn’t for your sandwich! First this worm needs to turn your garbage into poop, also known as compost. 


This book is absolutely charming! Who knew a worm book could be so delightfully charming?


If your kid just needs more worm poop science, this post is for them! 




For your beach trip….

Cover illustration of a happy cartoon goat and chicken holding on to each other and balancing on a barrel floating in the water. The grey goat is wearing a knight’s helmet with the visor up, and the yellow chicken is wearing a long green scarf.

written by Lynne Berry, illustrated by Matthew Cordell


How will Archie the Goat and Skinny the Hen cross the moat? They could just take the drawbridge but… “This is no time for a drawbridge. This is a time for science!”


This very silly story surprised me with the legitimately great science! They learn that the full barrel sinks of course. Then they learn that the empty barrel floats, but also rolls and tosses them into the water.  A partially full barrel sinks just a little bit into the water to help their makeshift boat stay upright.



Cover illustration of a dark-skinned girl with black pigtails and a silver robot with one wheel, both wearing sunglasses, lying on beach blankets with a smile and their hands behind their head. There is a sandcastle between them. In the corner is a “Girls who Code” logo.

By Josh Funk, illustrated by Sara Palacios


Teaching Pascal the robot to make a sandcastle is harder than it seems! So Pearl breaks the process down into small steps, then uses coding concepts like loops and if-then conditionals to code a sandcastle building program.  And when the tide comes in, Pearl learns the value of reusing code again and again. This is the first book in the “How to Code” series, produced by the Girls Who Code organization. 


And if you want computer coding fun for kids, check out this post! 



Before a birthday party… 

Cover image of two elementary age kids in astronaut suits and party hats jumping on the Moon, with the Earth in the background shining in the black sky.

By Joyce Lapin, illustrated by Simona Ceccarelli


I mean, the title alone is so great, isn’t it? This book imagines how long it would take to get to the Moon, what you would need to wear to deal with the Moon’s landscape and lack of air, and how birthday games like a piñata would work go.


And if you want more Moon science, check out this post! 




For your road trip….

Cover illustration of a young girl at the beach  with white gap-toothed smile, freckles and her hair curled up in two buns. She is holding up a yellow paper with “NELL” and tally marks written in red crayon. 

By Stuart J. Murphy, illustrated by Cynthia Jabar


This is one of my favorites from the MathStart picture book series. While driving to the beach, Nell and her family play tally games - tallying up all the red cars and green shirts they see. You can make it more interactive by encouraging kid readers to count themselves and figure out who wins each tally game. Even preschoolers who can’t write can learn to make tally marks and play their own tally games at home.


And if you want more counting and numbers fun, check out this post!



For the kid who wants to live in a video game….

Cover illustration of a cartoon girl with braided teal hair and a big smile, typing on a keyboard with one hand. She is looking straight at the reader, gesturing to the video game background behind her. Colorful squares are coming out of the keyboard into the video game background. There is also a pixelated teal-colored cat waving behind the girl. 

By Jess Hitchman and Gavin Cullen, illustrated by Leire Martin


My kids made me read this book over and over! Ava lives inside a video game, where she can create anything with code - like breakfast rollercoasters and underwater discos! But when Max Hacksalot breaks the code, can she create an even better world from scratch?


There are short bits of readable code everywhere, like “Moon.size = ‘large’” and “Sky.color = ‘purple’”. It’s simple enough to show the connection between the code she’s writing and the changes it makes in her world. A perfect way to introduce the idea of coding to a young kid!


And if you want computer coding fun for kids, check out this post! 



For the kid who wants to meet an alien….


Cover illustration of a green alien with long floppy bendy arms. The title “There’s a Skeleton Inside You! appears inside the alien’s big open mouth. 

written by Idan Ben-Barak; illustrated by Julian Frost


Aliens Quort and Oort don’t have any bones or muscles or nerves. Luckily, they can grow some! My 5 year old loves the interactive elements of this book.  And the boneless aliens who can't even open a door is a really funny way to get kids appreciating their own skeleton!


There’s lots more bones and skeleton science in this post, if you’re looking for more!




For the kid who wants to be an astronaut….


Cover illustration of an astronaut floating through space, waving at the reader and letting loose a handful of envelopes.

By Clayton Anderson, illustrated by Susan Batori


This was actually written by an astronaut who spent 152 days on the International Space Station! And it’s full of fun little gems like: “Dear Mission Control: Just wanted to let you know I’m on day three of my third pair of underwear. I know I’m supposed to wear them for four days before I throw them into the trash.” 



For the kid who would love a pet penguin….


Cover illustration entirely covered in a crowd of black and white penguins, with a family of four dressed in orange sticking out in the middle of the crowd. The two parents and one child look distressed, but one child is high-fiving a penguin.

By Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet


Mysteriously, a new penguin arrives at this family’s door every day.  “After the first three-digit number, our problems really began.” The family tries in vain to organize them (stack 15 in a pyramid or in dozens like eggs?), feed them (2.5 lbs of fish per penguin per day), and deal with the smell (poorly). This book is just absurd in all the best ways!


Want to multiply more than just penguins? Check out this post! 




For kids who love to bake...


Cartoony illustration of an oven exploding with light and atomic particles, and a girl in a chef’s hat in sunglasses taking a picture.

By Alec Carvlin, illustrated by Brian Biggs


This book is full of surprises - some hilarious baking scenes, some really good science about the Big Bang, and a really sweet ending about how the universe belongs to all of us. 


And if you want more space science, check out this post!










For the kid who wants to squish all the spiders….


Cover illustration of a brown spider with four eyes and a furry, round body, sitting on top of a black spiderweb. Dangling from one leg is a red heart tied up in thin black spiderweb loops. The title “I’m Trying to Love Spiders” written in slightly messy handwriting appears between the lines of the spider web. A small sign in red font in the corner says “Chock full of amazing arachnid facts!” The background is a watercolor splash of blue or brown. “A Children’s Choice Book Award Winner” is on the bottom.

By Bethany Barton


This is a fun interactive book where the narrator tries to convince herself to love spiders, but somehow keeps squishing them, or getting you to squish them for her! Along the way you learn all the cool spider facts that may actually get you appreciating them by the end. 


For more science-approved reasons to love spiders, check out this post! 




For the kid who likes things just a little bit gross….


Cover illustration of a dark skinned girl leaning away in shock from a mushroom and lichen that are as big as her, with big cartoon eyes and smiles. The girl has wide yellow glasses, long curly black hair blown back, a red t-shirt, white shorts, and black tennis shoes. The title Fungus is Among Us is written in B-horror movie style script.

By Joy Keller, illustrated by Erica Salcedo


This book is filled with fun fungi facts about fairy circles, dandruff, and compost. It also ends with an interview of a real mycologist - a mushroom scientist! 


For more fun fungus science, check out this post! 




Cover illustration of four small germs, each a different shape, different color, and with a different facial expression, against a bright yellow background. One blue germ with a serious face has a speech bubble reading “Do not lick this book*”. A pink round germ with a happy face has a speech bubble reading “*It’s full of germs.” 

written by Idan Ben-Barak and illustrated by Julian Frost


This book is absolutely delightful! Meet tiny microbe Min, who lives in this book. You can even pick her up with your finger, and take her to meet other microbes that live on your teeth, your shirt, and your skin.  All my kids, from my preschooler to my 4th grader, got a kick out of this book.


For more science about germs and why you shouldn’t lick them, check out this post!


For the kid who laughs at the word butt….


Cover illustration of a striped animal, with two googly eyes and a long protrusion that could be a tail or a nose.

by Kari Lavelle


I mean, what am I going to tell you about this book that the title doesn't already say? Truly every kid from age 2 to age 10 will get a laugh out of this one. Let's be real, I'm a full on grown up and I get a kick out of this one too. 


Aaand there’s even a sequel! Butt or Face - Revenge of the Butts! 





I hope your summer is full of curiosity, wonder, and cozy reading time! 

Happy reading,

Amy Wung Tsao


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