Best science books for kids

April 12, 2016 8:19 PM

I'd like to buy a few more informative science/technology books for the elementary school library I work at before the year ends, what are some good ones I should get?

I'm particularly looking for ones that are similar to Elements by Theodore Gray. The kids seem to like straightforeward science books more than cutesy ones like this.

It doesn't matter what the specific science topic is, I'm open to almost anything.

posted by modesty.blaise to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Professor Astro Cat books are great! There are two now, this is the newest.

http://flyingeyebooks.com/?feb_books=professor-astro-cats-frontiers-of-space
posted by ltracey at 8:43 PM on April 12, 2016

You could do a lot worse than the books by Larry Gonick.

Despite how they look, they are genuinely well written and easy to understand, and they cover a lot of territory.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:21 PM on April 12, 2016

Joy Hakim has a series on science that we are enjoying with our children - and they love the visual splendor of Elements and now, Molecules.
posted by childofTethys at 1:33 AM on April 13, 2016

We've been on a kick with Marine Biology, so The Whale Scientists (subtitle about stranding) was good, also The Octopus Scientists was great.
posted by childofTethys at 1:43 AM on April 13, 2016

The Mystery of Life: How Nothing Became Everything by Dutch author Jan Paul Schulten en illustrator Floor Rieder. Here's a description of the Dutch Translation Council.
posted by ouke at 4:24 AM on April 13, 2016

I assume you've already got a copy of The (New) Way Things Work, since it's an older text. But if not, you should definitely have it. Apparently there's an even newer edition coming out later this year.
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:40 AM on April 13, 2016

Randall Munroe's "Thing Explainer", also his "What If?".
posted by at at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2016

Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe
DK: Science: The Definitive Visual Guide (DK's got some beautiful science books)
The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science Experiments by Sean Connolly
Animal Architecture by Ingo Arndt
The Oldest Living Things in the World by Rachel Sussman
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:23 AM on April 13, 2016

The books by David Macaulay are also a good choice. (Books like "Pyramid", "Mill", "City". Not the weirder stuff.) This is over on the technology side rather than the science side but they're mainly a history of civil engineering, which is critically important to our survival.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:46 AM on April 13, 2016