Line upon Line Learning

Homeschooling and lifelong education . . . one day at a time

Enjoy life-long learning. . . one day at a time.

Hands-on learning activities, ideas, games, and printables for parents, homeschoolers, and educators

  • About
  • Read the Blog
    • Preschool Learning
    • Elementary Learning
    • Homeschooling
    • Parenting and Family
  • Become a VIP
  • Shop
  • 0 items
Home » Elementary Learning » Building Bridges: Picture Books for My STEAMers

Building Bridges: Picture Books for My STEAMers

Post by Rebecca Reid 2 Comments

For STEAM class, we made bridges for elephants out of cardstock and read books about building and engineering. Here are some of the best.This week’s STE(A)M project was building a bridge for an elephant (a little toy elephant). The kids had a blast working with cardstock and index cards. They were surprised at what they could do! We also learned some engineering vocabulary to go along with our project.

To go along with our Reading STEM project tree, the kids will get additional  “STEM Bucks,” which is the currency of the classroom, when they read and report on a book. After we made our bridges in our STEAM class, I gave the students this list of the best bridges picture books (with building, engineering and architecture).

 

Fiction about Bridges & Building

*Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale. Children’s building creations are compared to real architecture in poems, photos, and illustrations.

*Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

*Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty

Pop’s Bridge by Eve Bunting. Fictional account from the perspective of a girl whose father helps build the Brooklyn Bridge.

*The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires. A girl is determined to create a solution for her problem.

*If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen. Delightfully imaginative!

*If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen. Lots of fun!

*Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming. A father is trying to create a marvelous invention.

*Building Our House by Jonathan Bean. A child helps his father build a house.

*The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia

Historical Fiction and Nonfiction about Bridges and Building

*Bridges Are to Cross by Philemon Sturges. Simple text describing various uses for bridges and showing images of bridges around the world.

Twenty-one Elephants by Phil Bildner. How can a little girl convince her father the Brooklyn Bridge they watched be built is safe enough to cross? A Fictional tale based on a true story from 1884. (See also Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince.)


Mr. Ferris and his Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis. Story about George Ferris’ idea for a wheel to ride on and his construction of the first “Ferris Wheel” for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers. The story of how the Golden Gate Bridge came to be built (and bright red).

The Brooklyn Bridge: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Bridge by Elizabeth Mann

Architecture According to Pigeons by Speck Lee Trailfeather. Information about world famous building as told by a pigeon narrator.

Bridges by Seymour Simon. Nonfiction early reader about bridges with photographs.

Fantastic Feats and Failures. Short accounts of amazing inventions and creations.

*How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons.

Look at that Building! by Scott Richie.

Mill by David Macauley . See also Cathedral, Castle, and Pyramid by the same author.

An asterisk* indicates either a shorter book or a book with an easier reading level.

If you liked this list, pin it!

For STEAM class, a list with 20+ books about bridges, building, and engineering, to go along with our "build a bridge for an elephant" project!

Which of these have you read? Which book(s) am I missing on this list?

If you like this post, you may also like...

Integrating STEM into Our Elementary Homeschool We contintued our Princess Preschool STEAM activities by design a castle, after being inspired by a princess show and Chris Van Dusen's book, If I Built a House.Princess Preschool STEAM: Designing a Castle Buildling a bird cage helped us practice designing and engineering a creation. Fun picture book inspired lesson!Build a Bird Cage: Picture Book STEM Challenge Top Ten Picture Books for Toddlers STEM and STEAM Ideas for Homeschool, Co-ops, and Classes

Filed Under: Elementary Learning Tagged With: architecture, bridges, bridges picture books, buildings, Engineering, Science, STEAM, STEAM picture books, STEM, technology

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Filter Shop by Keyword

Line upon Line Learning’s Products

Our digital learning products are available at these sites:

The Line upon Line Learning Shop

TeachersPayTeachers 

Boom Learning

(What is Boom?)

Are you considering homeschooling?

The Yes, You CAN Homeschool: Debunking the Nay-sayers digital course will help you overcome some of your worries!

Discount pricing ends September 3, 2020.

I’m a Contributer!

Big Book of Homeschool Ideas Vol 2

The Big Book of Homeschool Ideas vol 2
ebook
| Hard copy (Amazon)

Learn with Play

Learn with Play ebook

Get the eBook 

Advertisement


Note: I include advertisements on my site. See my disclosure policy for more details.

 

Advertisement

Copyright © 2021 · Line upon Line Learning · Privacy and Disclosure Policy · Log in