Picture Books with STEAM and Maker Mindset Themes

As the former librarian at an elementary STEAM campus, I was always looking for useful read-aloud books to highlight books that illustrate creativity productivity. Whether it's the idea generation or research stage, building and refining prototypes, collaborating and exchanging feedback, or persisting in the face of struggles, there are a lot of skills involved with STEAM education and makerspaces. Here are a few titles that might be useful for classrooms, campuses, and families who want to explore maker concepts.

Boxitects by Kim Smith
Everyone who's ever known the joy of a group project can connect to this story, especially if you're a big ideas person who likes to be in charge. When you already have a vision about what something will look like, it can be hard to acknowledge other good ideas, much less incorporate them into your own work. This story respects and names this reality so that when team conflicts arise, participants can refer back to the story discussion for solutions and strategies.

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Pine and Boof Blast Off  by Ross Burach
A celebration of imagination and making that is sure to appeal to young students - and more than a few older ones, too.

If you like Pine and Boof, there are more books in this series. And if you teach K-4 kids and haven't done any read-alouds by Ross Burach, run to your nearest library for guaranteed laughs.

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Be a Maker by Katey Howes
The whole book is an invitation to engage in the creative process. It might be particularly helpful to read before brainstorming possible projects or building ideas.

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Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro
Maxine is shown trying invent something that will allow her pet goldfish to participate in the pet parade. Her persistence and clever re-purposing of recycled objects offer plenty of inspiration for additional projects.

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Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival
Sometimes talented engineering students have difficulty convincing other people to try their ideas, or they struggle to communicate their visions or their needs. This book is helpful for young readers embarking on group work - not just for students who have trouble initiating friendships, but also for other students who can use the story to discuss strategies and practice including everyone in authentic ways as they work together.

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Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall
I'm a fan of the first book, Jabari Jumps, for so clearly illustrating fears about trying something new. This title even more explicitly addresses the challenges of trying to make something work. As a bonus, Jabari's younger sister is really interesting in "helping," and her character is a great reminder that many different people can contribute useful solutions - not just the primary architect or leader.

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When Grandpa Gives You a Toolbox by Jamie L.B. Deenihan
The main character wants a dollhouse, but is polite when he receives a different gift. This story shows his growing construction skills and how they contribute to needs of his neighbors, and even (spoiler) his own. It's an intrepid teacher who facilitates hammering with young students (ask me about the time my class string art project disrupted the reading-to-dogs program across the hall), but the use of measurement and tools - with appropriate safety precautions - are lifelong skills that open up many possibilities for creativity.

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The Perfect Square by Michael Hall
This book has simple illustrations, and explores the mathematical idea that a shape retains its properties even if it is rotated. I don't know how you could read this and not take time to discuss - and build! - the different possibilities a square might become. This easily lends itself to expansion by exploring "what else" other shapes, from ovals to trapezoids might be, too. This concept of flexible thinking - what else could we use this for - is foundational to maker mindsets and accessible for our youngest students, yet still an interesting challenge for older ones.

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More-igami by Dori Kleber
Joey is shown to be very focused and interested in practicing as he becomes better and better at folds, illustrating that practice is crucial for improvement at any skill. Although his mother gets frustrated with the extent of his practice (beginning violinist parents will sympathize), the multitude of attempts at different origami projects will resonate with readers who are passionate about new endeavors.

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Skater Cielo by Rachel Katstaller
This book focuses on persistence in the face of difficulty, and I love that it features a female athlete for a younger audience. Everything about this book invites readers to get out maker supplies and design and build mini skate parks (tested with mini finger skateboards, of course), an activity sure to demonstrate what Cielo faces, too - the first time isn't always successful, so get up and keep trying!

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Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell
This title, based on a true story, explores the idea that what we make can improve the lives of others, in addition to being a personal interest or a process that builds useful transferable skills. Readers might be inspired to connect to their communities to create something beneficial - or even beautiful - after reading this book.

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Bridges and Tunnels by Donna Latham
It's good to remember nonfiction titles for makerspaces, although we might not typically grab a how-to book for a standard class story time. Sharing selected portions of a book like this will not only be motivating and helpful before students try some hands-on construction, but it's a great model of how some reading involves scanning and selecting for a given purpose - we don't always read cover to cover. This book is good to have on hand for independent student use, but it could also provide project options to student groups to make in class.

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Crazy Contraptions by Laura Perdew
Rube Goldberg machines take up a lot of space, but they are so much fun to investigate! It takes a lot of community trust, but if you've got a library schedule full of back-to-back classes, you might try having each class contribute their own machine steps that add on to prior machine motions. The last class of the day can engineer the final components, and a video of the completed machine in operation will be a satisfying record of all the collaborative creating and making! This book will get students excited to try their own independent projects, too.

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Finger Knitting for Kids by Eriko Teranishi
There are many crochet and sewing craft books and websites available to try. Having a few beginner and intermediate resources available to students can be a great way to start a lifelong hobby. Even if teachers are not experts or even competent with a given craft, a little research and prep work with a carefully selected basic skill can make a new activity accessible to students - and often, a student will shine with some expertise that might not always stand out in other curricular areas. If you have volunteers (parents, community members, older students) who can offer support and modeling during craft activities, that can be a great way to build community relationships and mentorships, too. Finger knitting takes some patience and fine motor control, but very simple projects like bookmarks are possible for many students. After you introduce it as a whole-class activity, it can be available as a maker station option for students who are interested in improving their skills.

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Game Logic by Angie Smibert
Although this book might work better as a guide for a small group or a club, it's a good resource for supporting students through the process of game design. Just as there are many "unplugged" hands-on activities to support thinking skills for coding, there are many different types of games that people enjoy - and even if coding a video game is the ultimate goal, understanding game mechanics and game play logic is fundamental. This is more of a resource book than a read-aloud recommendation, but it could be a useful addition to a maker station.

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A Super Sticky Mistake by Alison Donald and Rea Zhai,
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, and Pizza! A Slice of History by Greg Pizzoli
There are lots of picture book stories about the first person to make something, do something, or discover something, and all of these can be motivating to student inventors and researchers. The text features, like pop-ups, maps,  timelines, inset boxes, cutaway diagrams, and speech bubble captions are frequently appealing ways to present new information, and exposure to these kinds of books might inspire students to tell their own stories about under-appreciated inventions and fun facts. This kind of activity celebrates kids' expertise and gives them a vehicle to share it, while conducting research to fill in knowledge gaps and pursue answers to questions. Books like these inevitably illustrate the concept that success rarely strikes the first time, so persistence and effort - not simply luck or unique talents - are worthwhile behaviors to cultivate, in any field.

Growth Mindset and Persistence books
There are a lot of picture books that refer to growth mindset and persistence, which factor heavily into the engineering design process and maker mindsets. Here are a few:

The Knight Who Might by Lou Treleaven - an amusing story about a character who is not a quitter, even if nothing goes according to plan.

A Thousand Nos by D. J. Corchin - Feedback can be daunting, and "no" can be crushing, but if you frame it as a "not yet," persisting might be a little easier until you work to reach a "yes."

The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier - This take on the Little Red Hen story might initially seem like Ruby doesn't have any help with the construction process - but a look at the illustrations shows a lot of family support. Yes (spoiler), the brothers come around eventually, but it's a good reminder that even if the people around you aren't interested in your idea, there are probably other people out there willing to offer guidance as you learn and work toward your goal.

The Thing Lou Couldn't Do by Ashley Spires - Readers can easily identify the problem and the solution for Lou - but it's a lot harder to face our own fears and keep trying ourselves. This book can provoke some useful discussions about obstacles, particularly fear.

The Questioneers Books by Andrea Beaty
This still-growing series of picture books (and now, short novels) features a cast of characters with various maker interests. Rosie Revere, Engineer is a good example of the design process and running trials to make something work (and it includes a historical nod to women who built aircraft in WWII). David Roberts' illustrations are fantastically detailed, and all those who work on projects "just because" will be happy to see themselves - and those who don't yet might be inspired to start.

Aaron Slater, Illustrator touches on the fact that some skills are perceived as more valuable, especially in school environments, than others. It's a useful reminder that people who might struggle with some things may also have superior skills in other areas.

Other books in this series deal with leadership skills, experimenting, generating questions, using unconventional materials, and other concepts that support maker mindsets.
Although the rhyming nature of the books might pull the text toward younger audiences, older readers can still appreciate and discuss the messages in these books in meaningful ways.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
The quintessential book about celebrating the maker movement, this title is more than just an opportunity for students to dress up in circles or gather dots in a hallway. The messaging about "make your mark" and seeing where it takes you is powerful, even for adults and cynical older student audiences. This book would be a great introduction to any hands-on activity where participants might feel overwhelmed about getting started. Permission to try without knowing where it will go is a crucial aspect of creative thinking.
The Dot is part of a Creatrilogy set which includes Ish, and Sky Color.

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