Chapter Book Recommendations
Looking for a good chapter book? Below are some of our favorites. The Whittier Public Library will have both physical and electronic copies of recommended books at each branch location. Thank you Whittier Public Library!
Our recommendations are organized by topic. More recommendations provided regularly.
Grade range suggestions provided; however, you can also look at reading level through platforms like Accelerated Reader Bookfinder.
Interested in picture books as well? Be sure to check out our picture book recommendation page.
Life Science
The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death and a Boy Called Eel
Written by Deborah Hopkinson
272 pages
Grades 4-7
Trouble at the Zoo: Bindi’s Wildlife Adventures (book series)
Written by Bindi Irvin & Chris Kunz
112 pages
Grades 3-4
Physical Science
George’s Secret Key to the Universe (book series)
Written by Stephen Hawking & Lucy Hawking
336 pages
Grades 4-6
Space Travel
Engineering/Computer Science
Written by Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith
240 pages
Grades 4-6
Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (book series)
Written by Jon Scieszka & Brian Biggs
208 pages
Grades 3-5
Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction (multiple series)
Written by Saul Griffith, Ingrid Dragotta & Nick Dragotta
360 pages
Grades 4-7
Mathematics
Scientific Process/Thinking Critically
From the Highly Scientific Notebooks of Phineas L. MacGuire (book series)
Written by Frances O’Roark Dowell
224 pages
Grades 3-4
Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess (book series)
Written by Nancy Spring
240 pages
Grades 5-8
Biographies
The “Who Was” series by Penguin Random House provides biographies of close to 200 individuals throughout history. Many of these biographies discuss the lives/work of scientists, mathematicians & inventors including: Steve Irwin, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Ben franklin, Nikola Tesla, Neil Armstrong, Thomas Edison, Galileo, Henry Ford, The Wright Brothers, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Temple Grandin, Stephen Hawking, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Charles Darwin and more.
For a complete list of book in this series, check out the Who “Was Series…?” list from Penguin Random House.
And Still More! (General Category)
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World (book series)
Written by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone
272 pages
Grades 4-6
The Truth About Bats (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book Series) (book series)
Written by Eva Moore
80 pages
Grades 3-5
More coming soon…
Know a Good Read?
If you have a recommendation, let us know! We are always looking for more chapter books that focus on science, engineering and/or mathematics. You can email any recommendations to sciencecircuswhittier@gmail.com
