These are STEM books for girls who want to see how women have changed the world.
There is a good mix of books for young women and girls looking for history on how women have stood out above the crowd. Some of these are for girls as young as six years old, and others for teenagers.
I have purchased each of these books that I’m recommending, and I give my opinion along with the age recommendation.
Table of Contents
Why STEM Books for Girls
I’ve made a few book recommendations on different subjects (you can find my book recommendations here), but why make a list of STEM books for girls?
As a woman myself and having a young daughter, I think it’s important to highlight women who have overcome challenges and changed the world for the better. Some of these books are about women in the 40s and 50s that had to deal with status norms that don’t exist now.
I also wanted some books that are geared towards young girls under the age of ten. These are enjoyable to read with exciting illustrations. The underlying lessons will inspire young readers.
Now, let’s get into the books!
Girls Garage
Girls Garage is a book geared towards teenage girls with tons of small and large projects they will learn to build. I like that the book covers basics for girls that have never carried lumber to building projects step-by-step.
The author writes about empowering young females to make things that are traditionally thought of as “boys only.” A question the author received when writing this was why not write a “boy garage” book as well? She said, “with access to certain spaces has been historically limited for women and, in my opinion, “Boys Garage” has been synonymous with “every garage in America.” We, girls and women, need to create these spaces for ourselves.”
I completely agree with this sentiment.
In this book, you’ll learn essential skills like how to fix a running toilet, how to find a stud in a wall without a stud finder, and how to fix a tripping circuit breaker (and why it’s tripping in the first place).
These are just a few things, but reading over the book, I think all of these skills are important for anyone to know. Nothing in this book is too out of the ordinary; I believe these are common problems every woman will eventually run into.
Projects You’ll Learn
Along with essential skills, there is a long list of well-thought-out projects you’ll learn to do. Some of these include making your own toolbox, making a doghouse out of wood, and building a modular bookshelf for your home or office.
These are just a few projects, but they all seem practical, even if I would skip a few here and there. With each project, you’ll learn a new skill. After reading the book, I like how you can see new skills build upon the earlier ones.
Author: Emily Pilloton
Why We Love It:
- Pratical solutions to common problems.
- Build skills that are traditionally boy oriented.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Ada Twist, Scientist (The Questioneers)
Ada Twist is about a young inquisitive African American second grader and a born scientist. She is very interested in just about everything despite her parents’ frustration.
This book is a concise read, but a child will enjoy this book. The author has a good way of capturing a child’s imagination and some of the frustration a child has when their imagination runs wild.
I saw a lot of criticism of this book before I read it and decided to recommend it. You can read some of the criticism here, but overall some people don’t recommend the book because the main character gets in trouble for her curiosity.
This is how curious kids can feel at first, and everyone came around and encouraged the young girl at the end.
Author: Andrea Beaty. She has a ton of excellent books you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- A positive message for young girls.
- A quick read that your kids will enjoy.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World
This book is terrific! It’s an illustrated and educational book that highlights women throughout history in all STEM fields.
The book is illustrated, but it’s text-heavy, so I’d recommend girls over the age of nine to read this. It doesn’t need to be read cover to cover. This is well suited to keep on a coffee table for guests to jump around from section to section.
Each section focuses on a woman that was a pioneer in their field. This, along with a timeline and facts throughout the book, makes it an interesting read.
The only critique after reading this book would be the font is a small size, but that’s about it.
Author: Rachel Ignotofsky. She has many beautiful books you can find here. She also has a personal website with more of her books and illustrations here.
Why We Love It:
- A great coffee table book to read a quick chapter.
- Quick facts to inspire young girls.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women in Space
If you have a daughter that is interested in space, you should get her this book. It goes over the history of women’s contribution to space exploration.
Each chapter is about one woman with a few pages about her achievements and how they tie into our understanding of space. There are also highlights of women that are current astronauts with their stories and challenges.
After reading this book, I noticed the art looks hand-drawn, but it’s not the same style, which can be distracting. This isn’t as “fun” as a read as the book mentioned above, so it might not be an excellent gift for younger girls. They might lose interest quickly.
Author: Libby Jackson
Why We Love It:
- A book that focuses on the contributions of women in space exploration.
- An inspirational quote from each women highlighted.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Making a Difference: An Inspirational Book About Kids Changing the World!
This is a quick book for young readers around the age of 6. The book encourages kids to do the right things and also shows that doing the right thing is a choice we make.
It’s fully illustrated, with pictures kids will like on every page. Although this is a short book, my daughter enjoyed reading it a few times with me.
Author: Stacy C. Bauer. She has a few books for young girls you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- A great book for young girls
- Encourages kids to do the right thing because they are responsible for their actions.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
101 Great Science Experiments
After reading this book I found that there are a lot of great experiments for kids to do. Many of the science activities and experiments you’ll find on our blog.
This book has clear instructions and pictures of kids performing the experiments. Many of the items and materials needed you probably have to find online, as some things needed will be hard to find in your local store.
This book isn’t necessarily for girls, but all the science experiments are excellent for kids interested in hands-on science experiments.
Some of the experiments included:
- Building a sample thermometer
- Make an underwater volcano
- Detet moister in the air
- Constructing and circuit, and many more.
Do note that depending on the age of your kids, most of these activists will involve collaboration with adults, to set them up.
Author: Neil Ardley. Neil has many books like this one, and you can find all of them here.
Why We Love It:
- Tons of well throughout experiments in this book.
- Clear instructions and detailed pictures.
You can find the book in kindle format, hardcover, and paperback here.
If you’d like to see our book reviews for STEM activities, you can find them here.
Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women
I love the illustrations of this book. All of them are drawn in the same style and are fascinating to capture a girl’s attention. The information about each woman is also engaging and features a few women I had not heard of even after reading all the books in this article.
Each chapter features influential women and what they did to help science along. This is a lot like the book I recommend above, “Women in Science.” But they are not the same information and have different interesting facts.
This book is also text-heavy and is geared towards girls ten and up.
Author: Catherine Thimmesh. She has a lot of books about science and animals girls will find interesting. You can find the complete list here.
Why We Love It:
- Fantastic hand drawn illustrations.
- Chapters are separated by women in science, so you can jump around chapter to chapter.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Count Girls In
This book is for older girls or teachers that are interested in STEM. You can read more about the importance of STEM in our article here.
Their no pictures in this book, just hard facts and about tech and STEM fields. If you have a daughter interested in getting into a STEM field, I’d recommend this book for them.
This book goes into detail about following your passion and how to best do that by building a great foundation before further developing your interest.
Each chapter also has practical information on how to implement it in real life. At the end of each chapter, the author goes into putting everything a girl learns into practice.
Author: Karen Panetta PhD
Why We Love It:
- An excellent resource for girls helping them explore the world of STEM possibilities.
- In audio format as well as hard cover.
You can find the book in kindle format, hardcover, and audio here.
Make sure to check out our STEM book reviews for teachers.
Girls and Women in STEM: A Never Ending Story
This is another book like the one above. It’s for your daughter in high school who is thinking of pursuing a career in STEM. No pictures, just an in-depth conversation encouraging girls to explorer non-traditional career paths for women.
- Part one: of the book is about the history and stories of women pursuing STEM.
- Part two: Interventions on behalf of girls and women pursuing STEM fields.
Each chapter offers rich information. I also like that this book has information about how women can get into the robotics field, as that field is fascinating for every kid.
Author: Janice Koch. She has a few books about women in science you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- An excellent resource for girls pursuing a career in STEM.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Awesome Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids
This is part of a great series of books I’ve recommended a few times called Awesome Science for Kids. You can find all of the books here.
Each of these books in the series is dedicated to a particular aspect of STEM, like engineering or chemistry. I like this one because you probably already have a lot of the materials you’ll need in your home.
Each section of the book is broken down into the aspect your kids will be learning. Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and art. You can jump around from section to section and see what experiment your want to tackle.
Some of the experiments you’ll learn to do include:
- DNA extraction (with fruit).
- Making rock candy.
- Design a Marshmallow Catapult.
Those are just a few of the experiments, and there are over 50 in this book.
Author: Megan Olivia Hall. She has a few books just like this, you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- A bunch of kitchen science experiments that your kids can eat afterward.
You can find the book in kindle format, paperback, and spiral-bound notebook here.
Rosie Revere, Engineer (The Questioneers)
This is another quick read for a young girl around the age of six or so. I read this book with my six-year-old daughter, and she loves it. All the pictures are also great and kept her interest.
It’s about a young girl named Rosie that wants to be an engineer. She tries at first but gets laughed at until she finds out her great-great-aunt worked on airplanes.
This inspires Rosie to build a flying machine of her own. She gets discouraged again but eventually works through it.
After reading this book, I love how the author shows failure is just the next step to success. Girls need to know they won’t always get something right the first time around.
Author: Andrea Beaty. She has a ton of amazing books you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- Encourages young ladies that failure isn’t the place to stop working on your dreams.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
The Most Magnificent Thing
This book is about a little girl that is working on an invention. It’s never stated what she is trying to invent, but she is determined.
She gets frustrated, tries many iterations, but keeps failing. She finally takes a break, cools down, and realizes that many of her inventions weren’t all that bad.
I like that this book shows kids that they should keep trying and find new ways of making something work. The book also indicates without saying it directly that feeling emotion is okay; it’s part of life. Sometimes you have to take a step back to get a better view of what you’re trying to accomplish.
It is a short read for a little girl seven years old and up. All the drawings are interesting and have a great art style.
Author: Ashley Spires. She has a lot of great books you can find here.
Why We Love It:
- A great story with an underline tone of never giving up.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
If you’re looking for books for pre-schoolers, make sure to take a look at our article, 12 Best Preschool STEM Books for Little Learners.
Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars
This book is about women in the 40s and 50s who worked in California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It goes through the early days of strapping a rocket to an airplane to figuring out how to send rockets to outer space.
If the women in this book were starting out today, they would be in a coding field, but they didn’t have this back then. The women were mathematicians, crunching complex numbers in a lab.
After reading this book, I’m reminded how much has changed and how fortunate women are nowadays. There was no maternity leave in the 40s and 50s, and deciding not to be a homemaker was frowned upon.
This is a must-read for a teenage girl!
Author: Nathalia Holt
Why We Love It:
- This book shows how far we’ve come as a society while feature women that changed the world.
You can find the book in kindle format or hardcover here.
Careers for Girls: Let go the sandbags and dream BIG
I saved the best for last!
Careers for Girls shows young women that they have options in this image-conscious world. The book is laid out to reveal a job, what a girl would do in this career, and what’s so great about it.
I like that the book is focused on careers that you’d typically think of as only availably to men. With sixteen careers shows, the book explains what to expect if someone pursues one in great detail.
The book is text-heavy, which means no fluff to fill pages. It is also filled with attractive hand-drawn images showing women working on the job site.
Overall I think this is a lovely book for young women.
Author: Anne Daly
Why We Love It:
- This book shows that girls can pursue careers typically thought of as “men only.”
- Well thought-out description of each career shown.
Careers for Girls is only available in hardcover right now. You can find the book here.
Wrapping Up
I hope you enjoyed this list of STEM books for girls. I chose each one of these because they offered something unique and interesting.
If you have a favorite book for girls, please let me know down in the comments and I’ll check it out, and add it to the list.
Krystal, now you’re talkin’!
Arthur B