39 Titles To Round Out Any Maker Program

From biographies of real-life makers to activity books, these selections are the perfect way to get students engaged in making.

Little Makers

Cece Loves Science by Kimberly Derting & Shelli R. Johannes, illus. by Vashti Harrison. HarperCollins/Greenwillow. 2018. ISBN 9780062499608. STEM

Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished by Camille Andros, illus. by Brianne Farley. Clarion. 2017. ISBN 9780544785830. STEM

A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story About Knitting and Love by Michelle Edwards, illus. by G. Brian Karas. Random/Schwartz & Wade. 2016. ISBN 9780553497106. CRAFTS/DIY

How To Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk, illus. by Sara Palacios. Viking. May 2018. ISBN 9780425291986. CODING; COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

Tool School by Joan Holub, illus. by James Dean. Scholastic. 2017. ISBN 9780545685207. CRAFTS/DIY

With My Hands: Poems About Making Things by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, illus. by Lou Fancher & Steve Johnson. Clarion. 2018. ISBN 9780544313408. CRAFTS/DIY

Elementary

Building Amazing Creations: Sean Kenney’s Art with LEGO Bricks by Sean Kenney. Holt. 2017. ISBN 9781627790185. STEM

Curious Jane: Science + Design + Engineering for Inquisitive Girls. Sterling. 2017. ISBN 9781454922353. CRAFTS/DIY; STEM

Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How a Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet by Elizabeth Suneby, illus. by Rebecca Green. Kids Can. May 2018. ISBN 9781771387200. ECO-FRIENDLY; SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS; STEM

Junk Drawer Engineering: 25 Construction Challenges That Don’t Cost a Thing by Bobby Mercer. Chicago Review. 2017. ISBN 9781613737163. Budget-friendly; Crafts/DIY; STEM

Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects by Jack Challoner. DK. 2016. ISBN 9781465451354. Crafts/DIY; STEM

Math Lab for Kids: Fun, Hands-On Activities for Learning with Shapes, Puzzles, and Games by Rebecca Rapoport & J.A. Yoder. Quarto/Quarry. 2017. ISBN 9781631592522. Budget-friendly; STEM

One Minute Mysteries: Short Mysteries You Solve with Math!/Misterios de un minuto: ¡Misterios cortos que resuelves con matemáticas! by Eric Yoder & Natalie Yoder. Science, Naturally. 2017. ISBN 9781938492228. STEM

Plant, Cook, Eat!: A Children’s Cookbook by Joe Archer & Caroline Craig. Charlesbridge. 2018. ISBN 9781580898171. Cookbook; Eco-friendly

Stitch Camp: 18 Crafty Projects for Kids & Tweens by Nicole Blum & Catherine Newman. Storey. 2017. ISBN 9781612127507. Crafts/DIY

Think and Make Like an Artist: Art Activities for Creative Kids by Claudia Boldt & Eleanor Meredith, illus. by Jay Daniel Wright & Ola Niepsui. Thames & Hudson. 2017. ISBN 9780500650981. Crafts/DIY

Middle to High School

Be the Change!: The Future Is in Your Hands; 16+ Creative Projects for Civic and Community Action by Eunice Moyle & Sabrina Moyle. Walter Foster. 2018. ISBN 9781633225077. Crafts/DIY; Socially Conscious

Game On!: Video Game History from Pong and Pac-Man to Mario, Minecraft, and More by Dustin Hansen. Feiwel & Friends. 2016. ISBN 9781250080950. Gaming; STEM

Get Coding!: Learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and Build a Website, App, and Game. illus. by Duncan Beedle. Candlewick. 2017. ISBN 9780763692766. Coding; Computational Thinking

Girls Who Code: Learn To Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani, illus. by Andrea Tsurumi. Viking. 2017. ISBN 9780425287538. Coding; Computational Thinking

PhilanthroParties!: A Party-Planning Guide for Kids Who Want To Give Back by Lulu Cerone. 2017. Aladdin/Beyond Words. ISBN 9781582705873. Crafts/DIY; Socially Conscious

Sandwiches!: More Than You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Making and Eating America’s Favorite Food! by Alison Derring, illus. by Bob Lentz. Capstone. 2017. ISBN 9781623708160. Budget-friendly; Cookbook

Real-Life Makers

Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood, illus. by Sally Wern Comport. S. & S. 2016. ISBN 9781481430951. Biography; Eco-friendly; STEM

Beauty and the Beak: How Science, Technology, and a 3-D Printed Beak Rescued a Bald Eagle by Deborah Lee Rose & Jane Veltkamp. Persnickety. 2017. ISBN 9781943978281. STEM; 3-D Printing

Clang!: Ernst Chladni’s Sound Experiments by Darcy Pattison, illus. by Peter Willis. Mims House. 2018. ISBN 9781629440934. Biography; STEM

Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales & Sophie Houser. HarperCollins. 2017. ISBN 9780062472502. Coding; Gaming; STEM

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling, illus. by Laura Freeman. HarperCollins/Harper. 2018. ISBN 9780062742469. Biography; STEM

The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori & the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch, illus. by Marjorie Priceman. S. & S./Atheneum. 2017. ISBN 9781481444842. Biography; STEM

The Quilts of Gee’s Bend by Susan Goldman Rubin. Abrams. 2017. ISBN 9781419721311. Biography; Crafts/DIY

Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, illus. by Don Tate. Charlesbridge. 2016. ISBN 9781580892971. Biography; STEM

Professional Reading

The Big Book of Makerspace Projects: Inspiring Makers To Experiment, Create, and Learn by Aaron Graves & Colleen Graves. McGraw-Hill. 2016. ISBN 9781259644252. Budget-friendly; Coding; Crafts/DIY; STEM

The Elementary School Library Makerspace: A Start-Up Guide by Marge Cox. Libraries Unlimited. 2017. ISBN 9781440853388. STEM

Gamify Literacy: Boost Comprehension, Collaboration and Learning. edited by Michele Haiken. ISTE. 2017. ISBN 9781564843869. Gaming

The Green Screen Makerspace Project Book by Todd Burleson. McGraw-Hill. 2017. ISBN 9781260019957. Budget-friendly; Crafts/DIY; STEM

The Kickstart Guide to Making Great Makerspaces by Laura Fleming. Corwin. 2017. ISBN 9781506392523. Budget-friendly

Maker Literacy: A New Approach to Literacy Programming for Libraries by Lynn Pawloski & Cindy Wall. Libraries Unlimited. 2016. ISBN 9781440843808. Crafts/DIY; STEM

The Makerspace Librarian’s Sourcebook by Ellyssa Kroski. ALA Editions. 2017. ISBN 9780838915042. STEM

Making Science by Christa Flores. Constructing Modern Knowledge Pr. 2016. ISBN 9781440843808. STEM

63 Ready-To-Use Maker Projects by Ellyssa Kroski. ALA Editions. 2017. ISBN 9780838915912. Crafts/DIY; STEM; 3-D Printing


Mahnaz Dar is the reference and professional reading editor; Della Farrell is the nonfiction editor; and Kiera Parrott is the reviews director for SLJ.

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