Children’s Science Books For Summer Reading


As thoughts turn to summer, parents and children might be looking for fun science books to read, especially ones with accompanying hands-on activities.

For the next few weeks I am going to review a number of children’s science books with suggested activities. As the review posts go up, I will add links to them here to create a master list. The links below will take you to reviews and activities for each title.

(If you have any blog posts about interesting children’s science books you would like included, feel free to leave a link in the comments.)

All these books can be found at your local library.

Science Picture Books:


Insect Detective by Steve Voake and illustrated by Charlotte Voake
The Chiru of High Tibet: A True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Linda Wingerter
Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin
A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long
Hip-Pocket Papa by Sandra Markle and illustrated by Alan Marks
Seabird in the Forest written and illustrated by Joan Dunning

A longer list of Children’s Science Picture Books

Science Beginning/Easy Readers:


Carrots Grow Underground by Mari Schuh
Blueberries Grow on a Bush by Mari Schuh
From Tadpole To Frog by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld


Science Books for Upper Elementary:


Bat Researcher by Michael Burgan
Orb Weavers by Sandra Markle
The Krakatau Eruption by Peter Benoit

Middle Grade Science:


The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson
The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe is in the fabulous Scientists in the Field series, by Lorre Griffin Burns, with photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz.
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery and photographs by Nic Bishop won the Sibert Award.
Space, Stars, and the Beginning of Time: What the Hubble Telescope Saw by Elaine Scott
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson with photographs by the first author and her husband, Timothy Rodwell
Here at Wrapped in Foil, we review

Dinosaur Discovery: Everything You Need to Be a Paleontologist by Chris McGowan and illustrated by Erica Lyn Schmidt

Another List of Middle Grade and Young Adult Science books

Science Experiment Collections:

The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for Daring Young Scientists by Sean Connolly recently won the 2011 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books in the hands on science category.
Junior Scientists: Experiments with Seeds by Susan H. Gray, best for grades 2-3
Science Experiments That Fizz and Bubble: Fun Projects for Curious Kids by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen

The National Science Teacher’s Association has a list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for each year.

Shirley at Simply Science has many excellent science books with suggested activities, as well.

Let’s make this list grow.

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