November is a great time to discuss and explore STEM because that’s when National STEM Day is, but really you can do this any time of the year. This post shares STEM Picture Books that you can use for this purpose. All of the picture books on this list lend themselves to this topic really well. Take a peek below to learn more about these STEM Picture Books!
3 STEM Picture Books
Below is a list of some of our favorite STEM Picture Books to share with elementary students. Check them out!
1. The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires tells the story of a young girl and her dog who like to do everything together. One day, they decide to build the most magnificent thing. They get started building, and when they finish they discover it is not magnificent.
The girl and dog start making many changes to their creation, trying to make it exactly what she imagined. As they work, some people start admiring her work. The girl is frustrated that they can’t see the magnificent thing she imagined. Her frustration grows and she becomes very angry, smashing her creation.
While on a walk to cool down, the girl discovers the different parts of her creation and realizes there are parts of each she likes. She gets back to work and eventually creates exactly what she imagined.
Check out these The Most Magnificent Thing teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
2. What Do You Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada
The story What Do You Do With A Problem? follows a young boy who discovers he has a problem. He tries to run from his problem and hide from his problem, but he realizes his problem just won’t go away.
The boy starts to worry about what the problem is going to do to him. Eventually, he realizes that his worrying is making the problem worse than it is. He sets out to solve his problem, and when he solves it he discovers that problems hold beautiful opportunities.
Check out these What Do You Do With a Problem? teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
3. The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier
Inspired by the classic folktale, The Little Red Hen, this story is about the determination of a girl named Ruby. Ruby found spare boards and wanted to build a fort. Each step, she asked for help from her brothers. However, they repeatedly said they were too busy and could not assist her. They even made fun of her saying she could not draw plans, gather materials, cut the boards, or hammer the nails!
After late nights and hard work, Ruby finally created her very own fort. She proved all of her brothers wrong! When it was done, the boys wanted to play. Ruby reminded them that they were too busy to help build, and that they teased her, so she was going to play all by herself. With a little help and creativity, the boys showed their support and the story ended with a fort-warming party where all were invited.
This beautiful, rhythmic story shows the importance of creativity and resiliency, as well as teasing and forgiveness. Join Ruby on her journey to create her own fort!
Check out these The Little Red Fort teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
Grab the Free Reading Resources!
In closing, we hope you found this list of STEM Picture Books helpful! They are part of our Starts With a Story collection. If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie. It includes read aloud books lists, reading logs, and reading challenges for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
