19 STEM books your kids will love

Written and illustrated by Shanda McCloskey, Little Brown Books for Young Readers (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.

Written by Rosie Dickins and illustrated by Shaw Nielsen, Usborne Publishing (AGES 7+)

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside computers? This colourful 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 colours, and a doing a treasure hunt that involves coding, algorithms and flow charts. $18, indigo.ca

Written and illustrated by Ashley Spires, Kids Can Press (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. $17, indigo.ca

Written by Sheri Radford and illustrated by Qin Leng, Simply Read Books (AGES 6–9)

Princess Candi loves math more than anything. When her father says it’s time for her to get married, Candi decides to search for a husband herself. She tries to kiss frogs and slay a monster to find her Prince Charming but eventually charts her own course: going to college on a math scholarship. Kids will love this play on traditional fairy tales, featuring algebra problems and tons of unexpected twists. Will Candi find her happy ending? $23, indigo.ca

Written and illustrated by Linda Liukas, Feiwel & Friends (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. $20, indigo.ca

Written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Meg Hunt, Chronicle Books (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! $24, indigo.ca

Written by Kelly Doudna, Mighty Media Kids (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. $22, indigo.ca

Written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully; Farrar, Straus and Giroux (AGES 8+)

Do you know who invented the square-bottomed paper bag? It was Margaret E. Knight. As a kid, Mattie could make whatever she drew in her sketchbook, like toys and foot warmers. When she grew up, she invented the machine that makes the paper bags we use today. But a man said the invention was his and claimed Mattie couldn’t understand “mechanical complexities.” Of course, Mattie proved him wrong. Find out why they called this remarkable woman “the lady Edison.” $20, indigo.ca

Written by Lucy Lethbridge, Short Books Ltd. (AGES 10+)

What did a computer look like in the 1800s? Your kid can read all about it in Ada Lovelace’s story. Lovelace was the brilliant daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron, and she loved math. She collaborated with Charles Babbage, the creator of a “thinking machine” (essentially a very basic computer), and she’s considered the first computer programmer. $9, amazon.ca

Written and illustrated by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson, Candlewick Entertainment (AGES 3–7)

Cartoon stars and math lovers Peg and Cat appear in their first book. They want to win the Tallapegga Twenty race, so they build a car called Hot Buttered Lightning from the stuff they find in the junkyard. Peg knows the best shape for wheels and can count laps to see who’s ahead. Cat can calm her down when she gets stressed out. They make a great team, but will they win the Golden Cup? $13, indigo.ca

Written by Claudia Mills and illustrated by Rob Shepperson; Raincoast Books (AGES 7–10)

Annika loves math, but her friends Kelsey and Izzy don’t think it’s cool. At the school carnival fundraiser, Annika notices the class booth is losing money by not selling their lemonade properly, and she has to save the day with her math skills. $7, indigo.ca

Written by Alison Paul and illustrated by Barbara Lehman, HMH Books for Young Readers (AGES 4–7)

A little girl’s dream to fly to Saturn leads to her discovery of an old biplane from her father’s past. $24, indigo.ca

Written by Megan Stine and illustrated by Ted Hammond, Penguin Random House (AGES 7–11)

Who Was is an early chapter-book series that introduces kids to the lives of great people in history. When Sally Ride was a physics PhD candidate at Stanford University, she saw a newspaper ad from NASA that said they were looking looking for astronauts. She applied for the job, was accepted and, in 1983, became the first American woman to go to space. She also founded Sally Ride Science, a company dedicated to making science cool and accessible for girls. $8, indigo.ca

Written by Megan Stine, and illustrated by Nancy Harrison and Ted Hammond, Penguin Random House (AGES 7–11)

This illustrated book tells the exciting tale of Marie Curie, a woman who changed the landscape of science. She studied physics and math, and won a Nobel Prize for discovering two elements. $8, indigo.ca

Written by Uma Krishnaswami Krishnasawami and illustrated by Aimee Sicuro, Groundwood Books (AGES 6–9)

Phoebe wants to see Saturn and Mars with the telescope she and her dad have set up, but the city lights are too bright to see anything, and then a storm hits! But when the power fails and the skies clear, Phoebe, her dad and tons of other people can stand in the street and enjoy the view of the planets and stars. $18, indigo.ca

Written by Jonathan Melmoth and Rosie Dickins, and illustrated by Shaw Nielsen, Usborne Publishing (AGES 7+)

This colourful book for novices teaches kids how to use Scratch, the free online program created by MIT for primary schools. Kids will learn about coding and how to build fun games and animations. $22, amazon.ca

Written by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by April Chu, Creston Books (AGES 5+)

This beautifully illustrated biography introduces future programmers to the life of Ada Byron Lovelace, the child of Lord Byron, who loved inventing things. Your little one will get inspired as they learn about “The Princess of Parallelograms” and how her passion for math and science as a child led her to become the world’s first computer programmer. $27, indigo.ca

Written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Mike Holmes, Raincoast Books (AGES 8-12)  

The first book in this exciting new series lets young readers join Hopper and Eni on their adventures at Stately Academy, a school full of mysteries. The two friends must solve clues by using their coding skills. Kids will love this adventure that combines logic puzzles and basic programming. $12, indigo.ca

Read more: 11 cool STEM apps for kids Why girls need STEM and why STEM needs girls 4 ways to show your daughter she’s just as smart as the boys