Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty – This book is recommended by the A Mighty Girl website and several other book blogs that I follow. It instantly became a favorite in our house. It tells the tale of Rosie, who is a young girl that dreams of becoming a great engineer but is discouraged by some early failures and the perceived criticism by her eccentric zookeeper uncle. The story is told in rhyme and has some amazing illustrations by David Roberts. For some additional fun, the STEM Read website by Northern Illinois University has some videos featuring some of Rosie’s inventions.
How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons – This book by prolific children’s non-fiction author Gail Gibbons demonstrates to your little engineers how a house is built. From selecting a contractor to putting up the walls, this book covers it all. In describing this feat, it also introduces new words and concepts, which are depicted by simple yet informative illustrations.
Rocks, Jeans, and Busy Machines: An Engineering Kids Storybook by Alane & Raymundo Rivera – Admittedly, I discovered this book by doing a search on the Internet for engineering books for children (hold all nerd comments, please). Written by husband and wife engineers, this book introduces children to Violet and her dog Doc. En route to a trip to the park, Violet and her friend Pedro come upon a construction site. Similar to How a House is Built, the book does a great job of explaining some engineering concepts like how concrete is made and used. This is the first in a planned series of books, which will introduce children to other engineering disciplines.
Introductory Calculus for Infants by Omi M. Inouye – I perhaps not so secretly loved Calculus in high school. Suffice it to say, when I came across this book, I had to buy it. It is the fun story of two friends f and x and while it won’t make your babies little Einsteins or even teach them calculus per se, it is a great way to introduce your children to math concepts. It also would make a great, unique gift for any of your math-loving friends.
Thank you for this list! My father is an mechanical engineer and I love that these types of books help little girls (and children in general) find interest in mathematics/engineering.
No problem, Michelle. Let me know what you think or if you find any other good ones. I just recently added The Most Magnificent Thing to my Amazon wishlist too.