Skip to Main Content

Intermediate Senior Science - Grades 11-12

NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books

Each year, the National Science Teaching Association, along with the Children's Book Council, chooses the best science trade books for grades K-12. The books listed below are all available at the Education Library.

More information on the award, as well as lists of past winners, can be found here.

2021 Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12

2022 Winners

Coming soon to the Education Library!

  • The Beak Book by Robin Page
  • Beavers: Radical Rodents and Ecosystem Engineers by Frances Backhouse
  • The Body Book by Hannah Alice
  • Curious About Fish by Cathryn Sill, illustrated by John Sill
  • The Dirt Book: Poems About Animals that Live Beneath our Feet by David L. Harrison, illustrated by Kate Cosgrove
  • Disasters by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics by Steve Jenkins
  • Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America's Doctor by Kate Messner, illustrated by Alexandra Bye
  • Evelyn Hooker and the Fairy Project by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Sarah Green
  • Fearless World Traveler: Adventures of Marianne North, Botanical Artist by Laurie Lawlor, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
  • Fossils from Lost Worlds by Damien Laverdunt, Hélène Rajack
  • Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Angela Poon
  • Fungarium: Welcome to the Museum by Ester Gaya, illustrated by Katie Scott
  • Hello, Earth! Poems to Our Planet by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Miren Asiain Lora
  • History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics by Kate Messner, illustrated by Falynn Koch
  • If Bees Disappeared by Lily Williams
  • Inside In: X-Rays of Nature's Hidden World by Jan Paul Schutten, illustrated by Arie van 't Riet
  • A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla by Azadeh Westergaard, illustrated by Júlia Sardà
  • Masters of Disguise: Camouflaging Creatures & Magnificent Mimics by Marc Martin
  • Ocean Planet: Animals of the Sea and Shore by Ben Rothery
  • Over and Under the Canyon by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
  • Pooper Snooper by Jennifer Keats Curtis with Julianne Ubigau, illustrated by Phyllis Saroff
  • Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear by Trang Nguyen, illustrated by Jeet Zdung
  • Scientists: Inspiring Tales of the World's Brightest Scientific Minds by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Jessamy Hawke
  • The Secret Life of the Sloth by Laurence Pringle, illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
  • She Persisted: Virginia Apgar by Sayantani Dasgupta and Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint
  • Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah Brannen
  • Tracking Tortoises: The Mission to Save a Gallápagos Giant by Kate Messner
  • Wonder Women of Science: Twelve Geniuses who are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World by Tiera Fletcher; Ginger Rue, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport