Science Teaching Literature

The common thread of all the books on the CRS science book list is good writing and accurate science content.   The list is intended to assist teachers in selecting a few quality, well-reviewed, age-appropriate books for a given science topic.   These books may be used as fundamental parts of a science unit or as enrichment to a unit. 

Our list is a starting place for looking for books to complement your science units .  You can also check out the California Department of Education’s Literature Search for Science and Mathematics for more book ideas.

Kindergarten

Earth Science

  • Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker
  • Mud by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Life Science

  • Aardvarks, Disembark!  By Ann Jonas
  • I See Animals Hiding by Jim Arnosky
  • Why Is a Frog Not a Toad? Discovering the Difference Between Animal Look-A-likes by Q. L. Pearce
  • Animal Opposites: Quick and Slow Animals by Barbara Behm
  • In the Snow: Who’s Been Here by Lindsay Barrett George
  • Are You an Ant? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
  • Are You a Grasshopper? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
  • Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Leo & Diane Dillon
  • Little Brother Moose by James Kasperson, Illustrations by Karlyn Holman
  • My Five Senses by Aliki

Physical Science

  • Water by Adrienne Soutter-Perrot
  • It Could Still Be Water by Allan Fowler
  • Round The Garden by Omri Glaser

First Grade

Earth Science

  • Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros
  • Green Eyes by A. Birnbaum
  • The Cloud Book: Words and Pictures by Tomie dePaola
  • Sunshine Makes the Seasons (Let's Read and Find Out Science Series) by Giulio Maestro

Life Science

  • Eyes by Stephen Savage
  • What Color Is Camouflage? by Carolyn Otto
  • Where are the Night Animals? By Mary Ann Fraser
  • Chipmunk Song by Joanne Ryder
  • Alejandro's Gift by Richard E. Albert
  • Wild in the City by Jan Thornhill
  • Whose Teeth are These? By Wayne Lynch
  • The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
  • Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
  • Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
  • A Field of Sunflowers by Neil Johnson

Physical Science

  • Solids, Liquids and Gases by Louise Usborne
  • Solids, Liquids and Gases by The Ontario Science Center
  • What Is the World Made Of?: All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases:
  • Stage 2 Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan

Second Grade

Earth Science

  • Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor
  • Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst
  • And Still the Turtle Watched by Sheila MacGill-Callahan
  • The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock
  • Sand by Ellen J. Prager
  • Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown

Life Science

  • Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace
  • Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
  • Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz
  • Salamander Rain:  A Lake and Pond Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
  • Birds Build Nests by Yvonne Winer, illustrated by Tony Oliver
  • Animal Families series (12 books total, various authors)
  • Butterflies Fly by Yvonne Winer, illustrated by Karen Lloyd-Jones
  • Grandmother Oak by Allison Dagit
  • Someday A Tree by Bunting
  • The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Physical Science

  • Simple Machines by The Ontario Science Center
  • How Do You Lift A Lion? By Robert E. Wells
  • Marta’s Magnets by Wendy Pfeffer
  • What Makes a Magnet? By Franklyn Mansfield Branley
  • What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein

Third Grade

Earth Science

  • Orion, the Hunter by Necia Apfel
  • Follow the Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo
  • The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
     

Life Science

  • The Magic Schoolbus, A Science Chapter Book #2: The Search for the Missing Bones
  • The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
  • What do You do When Something Wants to Eat You?  By Steve Jenkins
  • Ever Heard of an Aardwolf? A Miscellany of Uncommon Animals by Madeline Moser, Barry Moser (Ills.)
  • Welcome to the Ice House by Jane Yolen
  • Salamander Rain:  A Lake and Pond Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
  • Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock by Stephen W. Kress, Pete
  • Salmansohn, National Audubon Society
  • Birds Build Nests by Yvonne Winer, illustrated by Tony Oliver
  • I Was All Thumbs by Bernard Waber
  • Extremely Weird Endangered Species by Sarah Lovett
  • I Wonder Why the Dodo is Dead by Andy Charman

Physical Science

  • Sea Soup: Phytoplankton by Mary Cerullo
  • Day Light, Night Light by Franklyn Branley
     

Fourth Grade

Earth Science

  • Stone Wall Secrets by Kristine and Robert Thorson, illustrated by Gustav Moore

Earth Science

  • Twister Trouble by The Magic School Bus
  • Our Patchwork Planet: The Story of Plate Tectonics by Helen Roney Sattler
  • The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock
  • Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey Through Time by Diane Nelson Spickert

Life Science

  • Pass the Energy Please! By Barbara Shaw McKinney, illustrated by Chad Wallace
  • Crawdad Creek by Scott Russell Sanders
  • Summer Ice: Life Along the Antarctic Peninsula by Bruce McMillan
  • What's A Penguin Doing In A Place Like This? By Miriam Schlein
  • The Magic Schoolbus, A Science Chapter Book #6: The Giant Germ
  • Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger

Physical Science

  • The Magic Schoolbus and the Electric Field Trip

Fifth Grade

Earth Science

  • Big Blue Ocean by Bill Nye
  • The Magic Schoolbus, A Science Chapter Book #5: Twister Trouble
  • The Big Storm by Bruce Hiscook
  • The Magic Schoolbus, A Science Chapter Book #5: Twister Trouble
  • The Big Storm by Bruce Hiscock
  • The Kids Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen et al

Life Science

  • Cells Are Us by Fran, Dr. Balkwill, Mic Rolph

Physical Science

  • Chemical Chaos by Nick Arnold
  • Atoms and Molecules by P. Roxbee-Cox
  • Carbon (the Elements, Group One) by Niles Sparrow