48 best science books for kids and young adults

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Books for kids under 10
For older children and young adults

Whether they are a young Marie Curie or Albert Einstein, a budding botanist, cuckoo for chemistry or simply looking for something new and exciting to read over the summer vacation, if there is one thing we know about our young Live Science readers, it's that they love a good science book.

With the help of our sister magazine "How It Works," we've pulled together some of the best science books for kids of all ages, which should keep their young minds fizzing with ideas long into the future.

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In this vibrantly illustrated children's book, you follow a young Johnson from her early education to her time at NASA, which was then a newly-established space agency. Her story is one of triumph in the face of adversity and is filled with extraordinary accomplishments that influenced the way humans explore space. Many girls and boys are sure to be inspired by Johnson's story and it may even propel them into a career in space exploration.

Tackling the issue head-on, the U.S. National Center for Youth Issues has published this informative picture book to show families the dangers of vaping by children. Following a cartoon criminal called 'Vape,' you learn about the many side effects and harmful consequences that come with vaping, including raising stress levels, lung damage and health concerns such as the role of highly addictive substances like nicotine.

Part of a series, "Oh No They Aren’t: Nature" tackles many of the common misconceptions about animals. For example 'all sharks are fearsome predators' and 'insects are the only pollinators'. Each time an illustrated character exclaims "Oh no they aren’t," insightful information is revealed by creatures such as a friendly giant whale shark or a bat describing its nighttime pollination antics. The quirky drawings will intrigue young readers, introducing them to worlds in the sea and sky, underground and overground, for a whirlwind tour of Earth’s diverse environments and inhabitants.

Some older readers will have fond memories of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" or "Fighting Fantasy" series of game books — their popularity boomed in the 1980s and 1990s. Each title placed you at the center of the story and agency over its telling, with options at the end of each section. For example, should you go left or right? Do you want to fight that hobgoblin? If so, turn to page 10, otherwise turn to page 12 to run away. The age of game books has passed but the concept has longevity because gamifying STEM subjects is still a great way of learning.

"Deep Space Danger" is the fourth in the Spin to Survive series. It puts you in the role of a cadet bound for Mars when your spacecraft is hit by meteoroids that tear a hole in the service module. The rest of your crew are sucked into space or manage to escape in the crew transfer module, leaving you alone in a sealed part of the spacecraft with a series of life-or-death decisions to make. Do you continue the mission to Mars, attempt a return to Earth, or seek help from a nearby asteroid mining station? The book includes a circular dial that pops out of the front cover. For certain scenarios, you’ll need to place the dial over a circle on the page and spin the arrow to decide one of three outcomes: whether you survive, spin again, or succumb to one of the many perilous situations you can encounter.

Space writer Giles Sparrow has put together a scientifically accurate cosmic adventure for school children, taking them across a variety of extraterrestrial environments, from the barren lands of the Red Planet to the surface of a comet. The story comes complete with explainer boxes containing informative text to put the minds of game-wary parents and teachers at ease. There’s plenty of replayability in "Deep Space Danger" so adults can leave kids alone for long periods, safe in the knowledge that they’re being entertained and educated at the same time.

Colorful artwork takes center stage, complementing the narrative and setting each scene beautifully, while curious facts help piece together each element of the illustration. As you explore outer space, you experience everything from realistically drawn worlds to more abstract yet mesmerizing solar storms. By the end of "In Our Solar System" you'll have a broad overview of much of what we know about our 4.5 billion-year-old star system. This book will leave you wondering what secrets lurk beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, and what astronomers will discover next.

This engaging book leaves no leaf unturned when it comes to revealing the amazing world of "minibeasts." In each chapter, you learn about an assortment of captivating creatures. Can you spot the masters of disguise, such as the lanky stick insect and the speckled peppered moth? In a chapter on evolution, rare animals you may never have encountered before are brought to life through intricate illustrations. The giraffe weevil, for example, is a beetle with a disproportionately long neck that males use to fight each other, just as in actual giraffes.

Muslin is a type of plain-woven cotton fabric that has a broad range of uses depending on its quality and weight. It can be used to make fine, floaty dresses suitable for a period drama, for example, to staunch blood flow on open wounds, or to mop up baby vomit. But much bigger things were in store for one bolt of muslin cloth purchased in a store in Ohio, in 1903. It was bought by Orville and Wilbur Wright, and used to cover the wings of the glider that made the world’s first successful crewed flight on December 17 the same year. That’s probably the biggest claim to fame any bit of fabric could have made at the time — but swatches of muslim from the Wright Flyer’s wings had an even greater destiny.

"Almost Underwear" follows the journey of the muslin used on the Wright brothers’ famous aircraft in a step-by-step fashion, from the wings of the Wright Flyer to a museum, to space, to the moon, and eventually to Mars, becoming a passenger on the first flight on another planet. Author and Illustrator Jonathan Roth anthropomorphises the little swatches of muslin in his inspirational story, referring almost affectionately to them in the text. He uses real photos that were taken over a century of flight, from the Wright brothers’ escapades near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to the flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. Then he overlays them with charming drawings of the muslin, with expressive little faces, smiling with pleasure at floating around in the Apollo capsule, or in open-mouthed surprise on the top of launching Atlas V rocket.

Despite the simple concept, categorising 1,000 things gives children an insight into many aspects of the world and provokes questions, from the differing skill sets that can shape a person’s job to the changing seasons, diverse landscapes and the technology that helps you navigate them. For any young person first learning about the world around them, "One Thousand Things" is a gentle and entertaining start.

The first part of "The Big Aquarium Adventure" is written in a dialogue style, making it very conversational and easy for kids to follow. As Alex learns, the reader will explore new species and the logistics of the aquarium, while observing how children can learn from others their own age. The book has interactive elements, asking the reader questions about their own experiences at aquariums, or questions they may have about the events Alex talked about.

In the second half of "The Big Aquarium Adventure", the reader is introduced to another friend, who is inspired by the visit to research the animals found there. The results of this research are illustrated with diagrams of different species and fun facts about aquarium animals. Finally, the friends write a story about the trip to the aquarium and the book reveals top tips about turning any exciting experience into a flowing narrative.

Book’s super-confident demeanor lasts all of three pages, after which it gives the reader a slow-clap for spotting the smallest dog among a tightly packed spread of cartoon pooches. It’s downhill for Book from here, as it lines up one game after another only for its self-belief to waver as it assumes the reader beats every challenge. Challenges like, which is the longest of five slippery creatures that include a worm, a boa constrictor and a deep sea siphonophore. And, find the hole among all the spots on several different creatures — it’s an actual hole in the page of the book, as if someone had used a hole-punch on it.

In the latest installment in the "How to Explain" book series, children tackle the topic of our climate, and more importantly how humans affect it. In its typically charming way of turning the tables on who's teaching who,the book gives children all the information they need to explain climate science to adults. It includes how to explain the differences between weather and climate, why our climate is changing and what we can do to help stop things from getting worse.

Its humor and handy 'pro tips' on how to keep adults engaged while they learn are a brilliant way to teach young readers how to articulate what's going on in the world. It’s yet another great edition in this series that's helping children learn through teaching adults. "How to Explain Climate Science to a Grown-up" is a must-read for inquisitive children who love to tell you what they have learned in school.

The busy lives of honeybees are usually concealed inside their complex hives. But in "They Work" you can uncover the goings-on in and around their honeycombed homes. Through detailed and varied illustrations, this book clearly shows how bees work together to store food, serve their queen, reproduce and clean the rooms of their homes. There may be more roles than you realized, from nannies that care for young larvae to construction workers, engineers and the queen’s ladies in waiting.

The rest of the book continues in this vein, describing a spectrum of biological and emotional signals that include anxiety, tiredness, pain, the need to urinate and others. It’s appended by a detailed description of what "interoception" is — the sense or "feeling" of what's happening in your body — before asking the reader to focus on various parts of their body to gauge any sensation coming from it, however big or small that feeling may be.

As adults, we tend to take the signals generated by our bodily functions and primal emotions for granted, eating whenever we like or need to, putting up with persistent physical aches and pains, or pushing the stresses of life into a place where we feel we can cope with them — even if it’s not healthy for us to do so. But for young children, these signals — whether they feel positive or negative — are fresh and sometimes overwhelming. "Body Detective!" seeks to help children to understand and name what they’re feeling, and empower them.

This charming book is bursting with tales of trains from around the world, brought to life with wonderfully vibrant illustrations and informative diagrams. There are also several brief biographies of important people that propelled the evolution of trains, such as George Westinghouse, inventor of the air brake and Mary Elizabeth Walton, a pioneer of the railroads. Whether you're a young train enthusiast or have an interest in historical events, “On Track” is a must-read.

In this book, Akeem invites you onto his family’s farm to teach you all about bees and how he looks after them. The story is written by Akeem’s father, but is presented from the boy’s point of view, helping young readers understand and relate to the content. The happy character gives you a tour of Sankofa Farms, NC, with expressive and detailed illustrations immersing the reader every step of the way. Akeem helps out with a lot of activities on the farm, but his firm favorite is raising the honeybees.

With a combination of comic-style imagery and factual diagrams, this book is an ideal blend of entertaining and informative. Akeem’s enthusiasm accompanies his father’s words of wisdom to guide the reader through the stages of the honeybees’ lifecycle, while creating a space for young readers to share in Akeem’s passion. The processes of looking after bees are presented in imaginative ways, from humorous bee dialogue to detailed diagrams of equipment.

In this charismatic guide to pets, comedian turned pet detective Russell Kane lends a comedic helping hand to those looking to bring a new furry friend into the family. Focusing mostly on breeds across the feline and canine kingdoms, Kane introduces his young readers to the various personalities and behaviors of commonly considered pets. He uses a handy key to rate their qualities, such as intelligence, playfulness and neediness.

Hear from dunking, water-loving dinosaurs and dueling competitors as the rhymes become an entertaining and fast-paced tour. At the end of "Stomp, Soar, Dino Roar," you get more information about each dinosaur mentioned, with useful fact files and illustrations to show the size of each in comparison to a human. More thorough information about how we know what each dinosaur may have sounded like — through fossils and the analysis of living relatives — is included at the back of the book, as well as a timeline to visualise how long ago animals like Terri graced the Earth.

The author and illustrator of "How to Draw Dinosaurs" is a self-proclaimed "doodler," which is a very modest way of saying he’s a cartoon artist — and a very good one, at that. Duddle begins to take the reader through his dinosaur-drawing methods by listing the basic equipment: "just a pencil to start," although he does have his favorite tools of the trade that include a sketchbook and a ballpoint pen — not an advisable drawing implement for mistake-prone beginners.

Duddle alternates between pages of dinosaur facts with finished dinosaur illustrations, and step-by-step lessons on how to draw them in his style. It’s often a case of building layers on top of a basic shape — such as the ellipse that forms the body of a diplodocus. The section on dinosaur skeletons, which includes a step-by-step illustration of how fossils form, is a particularly vibrant chapter that gives the budding artist a sense of the internal structure of a dinosaur and some shapes that they can start to build their own dinosaur drawings around.

Throughout "The Ultimate Kids’ Guide to Dogs" you will learn about the many jobs dogs have been selectively bred for, as well as the biology and behaviors of different breeds in the dog fact files. If you have a new puppy in your family, this is the perfect way to get to know them better. A visual timeline of a dog’s growth details what to expect from your new best friend, while the body language guide will explain what your pet is trying to tell you.

You can’t go far wrong with cool facts and funny comic strips, so author/illustrator dream team Mike Barfield and Franziska Höllbacher are off to a pretty good start with "The World’s First Rollercoaster and Other Amazing Inventions." It charts the greatest inventions from the last century or so — but when we say "greatest," we don’t necessarily mean the inventions that have significantly furthered our species.

It's safe to say that children have never been more aware of the impact that climate change is having on the world — and with that awareness come countless questions about how families can play their part in protecting the planet. In this simple guide to sustainable living, children will learn about different climate challenges, as well as some of the small ways in which we can help reduce our negative impact on the environment.

Throughout the history of science fiction, exotic planets orbiting suns beyond our solar system have played host to some of the greatest tales in the genre. Yet it was more than 25 years after we first heard of the Starship Enterprise's mission to explore strange new worlds that we discovered an exoplanet orbiting a distant star. Since then, astronomers have discovered more than 5,000 of them, so it’s reasonable to ask how these real-life planets stack up against their sci-fi counterparts. That’s the question Keith Cooper addresses in this fascinating book.

It turns out that many of the various planetary types imagined in fiction have a chance of existing somewhere in the galaxy: from Dune’s desert-covered Arrakis, to frozen 'snowball worlds' like the planet Hoth in the "Star Wars" universe. There are also some genuine oddities, like worlds with two or more suns, or planets where there's perpetual daylight in one hemisphere and endless night in the other. What’s particularly exciting is the possibility of discovering a planet that’s been massively engineered by an advanced civilization, similar to the globe-spanning city of Coruscant from "Star Wars". Such an 'ecumenopolis' has not yet been discovered by astronomers, nor have they found evidence of life anywhere except Earth, so these things are still strictly confined to the realm of sci-fi.

Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, Cooper’s book isn’t too technical, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. He draws heavily on his interviews with exoplanet scientists, discussing their techniques, discoveries and plans for the future. Comparisons with the fictional planets of movies, TV shows and novels run like a thread throughout the book, and support the old saying that the "truth is stranger than fiction." While most fictional planets are at least vaguely Earth-like, real-life exoplanets are amazingly diverse.

The big draw for "Eatopedia" has to be its cookbook-like style and anatomical illustrations. Whether or not you're interested in reading about how a blue whale or hagfish consumes its food, you’ll feel compelled to turn the page just to see another visual explanation. While flipping-through, you’ll consider questions you might not otherwise have asked yourself, such as "How long is an anteater's esophagus?" and "What does a chicken's gizzard do?"

Whether you walk, drive or get pulled across them, bridges share a common purpose — they connect our planet's dramatic and undulating landscapes. This book is far more than a typical encyclopedia, it spans vast categories of bridge architecture in an attractive and informative manner, while gripping you with historical accounts. "Bridges" doesn’t just cover the typical form you may initially conjure up in your mind, it describes a diverse range of natural bridges, folding bridges, lifting bridges and armored vehicles that extend their arms to lay a bridge on demand.

Annotated sketches complement picturesque drawings, providing key details along with imaginative depictions. You learn more about the world’s most famous bridges and marvel at record-breaking structures. Many of the bridges we use today were built a long time ago, and this book covers their construction, step-by-step, to show how they came to be. The tales in this book document the innovative methods, environmental issues and years of manual labor involved in building bridges, which serves as a great reminder of the effort and dedication undertaken to simplify our journeys.

Peer through a jeweler’s loupe to magnify the world's most tough and vibrant minerals in this charming guide. From birthstones to basalt, this illustrated encyclopedia delves into the fascinating characteristics of rocks, minerals and crystals found around the globe. Author Kelsey Oseid brilliantly blends the science of geology with the art of lapidary — shaping stones or gems — while taking readers from Earth's crust to the jewelry studio. This tour is accompanied by attractive illustrations that showcase the form each mineral takes, as well as the sparkle of diamonds and the iridescence of labradorite.

Do bees sting other bees? What is fire made of? Why are aeroplane toilets so loud? Those are a small sample of the sort of science and history questions that this light-hearted and fun, but informative children's book has to offer. Even if the question hasn't crossed your mind before, be assured that flicking through its pages is sure to have you tilting your head and wondering, "Who did invent time zones?" or "Can an elephant even jump, let alone to any significant height?".

The scientific diagrams dispersed through "Boats" are subtle enough that they blend into creative and charismatic ocean scenes while teaching the basic physics behind floating boats, surging ships, radar reception and many more marine mechanics. "Boats" does exactly what its title claims, but what is surprising is the great array of water-borne machines that have been produced throughout the history of human exploration, and the diverse onboard devices that have evolved alongside them.

Chapters include trackers for chores, seed-starting schedules, disease trackers, seasonal reviews and expense logs. In between each season’s log, the author has written friendly reminders about the best practice for gardening, as well as extensive information about how the garden is changing throughout the year — and what you may not have considered as you approach a new season. Its advice draws on personal experiences from author Jill Ragan and there are relevant, inspirational quotes from famous individuals throughout.

Along with abundant advice on the practicalities of growing your food, there is also a great deal of nutritional insight to discover, such as fat-rich seeds and protein-loaded chickpeas. One of the most important aspects of this survival guide is that it teaches how to preserve and store the fruits of your labor, including how to dehydrate and how to build a root cellar in your garden. So whether you're a nature novice or a green-thumbed gardener, there's heaps of knowledge to harvest from "Survival Gardening".

Take the story of John Stapp, for example, which sets the standard for "Space," the latest transport book by writer and illustrator Jan van der Veken. Stapp was a test pilot who built a rocket sled to assess the effects of sudden, massive acceleration and deceleration on the human body. He was strapped into his sled by assistants before he hit the ignition button and went from zero to 620 miles per hour in just five seconds, then back to zero in an even snappier 1.4 seconds. Dozens of these human test runs left him with broken ribs, broken wrists and bruised eye sockets, but Stapp survived and the data from these experiments were invaluable to the safety systems incorporated into future space missions.

From one double-page spread to the next, "Space" takes us through some of the biggest milestones in space travel. Following on from Stapp’s exploits, we head into the first human spaceflight, the Moon landings, Skylab (the first US space station) and the Space Shuttle program. Between these historical waypoints, van der Veken explains the technology that got us there — the rockets, space suits and ground vehicles without which future astronauts would have been left to stare dreamily into the sky — and more incredible stories of human endeavor, such as the time Sergei Krikalev was stranded on the Russian space station Mir for six months, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The first-person style from the author helps to maintain the attention of young readers, by including personal anecdotes and avoiding packed pages of overwhelming text. There is a perfect balance of information and visual elements for confident readers, as each section is split into sophisticated sketches and a mixture of writing styles. The book also contains fact files of some of the most poisonous animals, a list of jellyfish-themed jokes, an interactive maze through marine litter and detailed life cycle illustrations.

Taking plenty of cues from the bestselling "Horrible Histories" series, "Astrophysics for Supervillains" is a children’s book of space facts that moves space education beyond what a typical 9-year-old might learn in their classroom. And as long as there’s other stuff on the school curriculum, like English or Geography, there’s no chance of the teacher finding time to derail the learnings of a supervillain-in-training.

Author and astronomer Dr. Matt Bothwell steps up to the role of evil genius and takes us through six meaty chapters of space facts, from the relatively ordinary confines of our own solar system to the end of a star’s life, the heat death of the universe and, our favorite, "How to Destroy the Earth" — a list of the various cosmic fates to which Earth may finally succumb, however unlikely those might be.

Every chapter can effectively be split into a series of questions that might typically be asked by a school student of a certain age, such as "How long could you survive on Pluto?", "What is inside a black hole?" and "If the universe is growing, what is it expanding into?". These questions are comprehensively answered by Dr. Bothwell in his best supervillain professor voice, reveling in the extreme dangers posed by the space beyond our little bubble of atmosphere, and the apocalyptic scenarios that we might encounter if we could travel millions of light years from Earth and live a few billion years or more.

Dr. Bothwell is the public astronomer at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, so engaging a school-age audience is all in a day’s work — and "Astrophysics for Supervillains" is no exception. It cleverly weaves around tough answers that might require an actual PhD to unpick, coupling them with plenty of cartoon illustrations and the kind of choice typography that makes a good comic strip.

If the ever-changing sky and shape-shifting patterns of clouds have ever piqued your interest, this is the book for you. Those fluffy objects floating in the atmosphere are immensely complex, and each form of cloud has a specific classification, produces intriguing phenomena and exists only at favourable altitudes. "Cloudspotting for Beginners" introduces you to each type of cloud, often giving them a poetic personality to remember them by.

Just like the act of skywatching itself, reading this book has a calming effect, as each cloud type and phenomenon is presented with elegant sketches that beautifully capture the intricacies and moods of different skies. You will learn about the 10 main cloud types, positioned on the page at the altitudes where you can spot them. Artistic graphs detail the science of cloud formation, the anatomy of rainbows, halos formed by clouds’ crystals and the appearance of clouds on other planets.

From the key invention of the transistor in the 1960s, you'll follow the evolutionary journey of the humble pocket calculator and watch it transform into a feature-packed mini-computer, capable of making short work of complex equations. You'll also discover the many weird and wonderful calculators that broke the mold, such as the calculator-pen hybrid, the credit card calculator and the iconic calculator watch that dominated the 1980s.

In part, this reference book acts as a reminder of the great women whose work paved the way for modern minds. For example, Stephanie Willerth, a professor at the University of Victoria in Canada, oversees research to engineer treatments for central nervous system disorders, while data scientist Rumman Chowdhury is tackling solutions for ethical artificial intelligence. These are just some of the minds that you'll meet through a series of interview-based biographies that reveal the motivations of women who are making strides in technology.

Unlike many technology-based non-fiction books, this story largely focuses on the people and families behind the technology, as well as life during World War II. The book includes a combination of character storylines and multiple scientific discoveries, intriguing the reader as to how they will connect together. Toward the end of the book, these stories and inventions meet in a dramatic scene that demonstrates the lifesaving potential of science.

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Ben Biggs is a keen and experienced science and technology writer, published book author, and editor of the award-winning magazine, How It Works. He has also spent many years writing and editing for technology and video games outlets, later becoming the editor of All About Space and then, Real Crime magazine.

With contributions from

How It Works magazine
Alexander McNamaraEditor-in-Chief, Live Science

Best science books for kids under 10 years old

Best science books for older children and young adults