Celebrate Your Little Engineers With Some Great Math and Science Reads

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President’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day … immediately you think February. National Freedom Day, Thank a Mailman Day, and Pizza Day all also celebrated during February. Perhaps an even lesser known celebration during the month of hearts is one of engineers – of the scientific discipline not the train variety.  February 22-28, 2015 is National Engineers Week, which personally peaks my interest because I studied engineering before going to law DSC_0061school.  What better way to celebrate engineers than to check out some fun engineering, math or science-themed books.  Below are some of my girls’ favorites.

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.

My little engineers

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.

What are some of your favorite math or science-related children’s books?
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Kara
Kara, her husband, and two little girls M and Z live in the idyllic town of Rowayton. She was born and raised in West Virginia and, although she has lived in the New York metro area for over fifteen years, is a mountaineer forever (Go ‘Eers!). In addition to being a mom to M (born in 2011) and Z (born in 2013), Kara is a full time attorney working in Manhattan and a hobbyist photographer. When not battling Metro North, she enjoys practicing her photography skills, reading the latest best-sellers, trying new recipes for the girls, getting outdoors whether running, hiking or snowshoeing, and competing with her husband for the self-proclaimed title of “Efficiency Expert.” If you can’t find her doing any of these things, she most likely has fallen asleep on the sofa while attempting to watch the latest “must see” movie.

2 COMMENTS

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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