Books for gifted kids

Looking for books for teachers and administrators?  Check out book list for educators.

Books for Gifted Kids

Looking for a guidebook to help with finding the right book for your gifted reader? Some of My Best Friends are Books suggests and details over 300 titles for bright students.

Also, click on “book reviews” under categories in the column to the right. We highlight books of interest to gifted parents, teachers and kids.

Math books for elementary age students

• The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
• What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander
• Grapes Of Math by Greg Tang
• Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro Anno
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
• Primary Grade Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro

Books to improve vocabulary

Want to slowly improve your child’s vocabulary (which helps on the SAT test) and expose him to great literature?  Start him reading the books that are most often cited on the AP English Literature test.

Books about gifted kids

Often gifted kids think they are different, weird, and therefore alone.  One way to help them realize they are not the only ones who are gifted is through books.

Please use care in deciding which stories to share with your child as some may be disconcerting for emotionally sensitive gifted children.  For example, Matilda includes a Disneyesque mean principal.  They can be good starting points for conversations, but should not be blithely used as babysitters or entertainment without parental involvement.   The collection (easy books, juvenile fiction, young adult fiction, or adult fiction) can be a good aid in determine whether a book is appropriate.

Brill, Marlene Targ. Extraordinary Young People.   Juvenile Nonfiction  Call#: 920.00879 BRI

Evangelista, Beth. Gifted.  Young Adult Fiction  Call#: EVA

Fitzgerald, John Dennis, and Mercer Mayer. The Great Brain.  Juvenile Fiction  Call#: FIT

Fredericks, Mariah. Crunch Time.   Four students form an SAT study group.  YA Fiction. Call#: FRE.

Gibbons, Kaye. The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster.   Large Print Fiction  Call#: GIB

Goldberg, Myla. Bee Season a Novel.    Fiction  Call#: GOL.  Also available as e-audio book.

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  Mathematically gifted autistic 15-year-old with fear of interaction with people investigates the murder of a neighbor’s dog.  Fiction,   Books on CD  Call#: HAD.

Hickam, Homer H. Rocket Boys a Memoir.   Young boys in a poor mining town get the notion to create a rocket from junk and end up going to the national science fair and on to college.  Inspiring true story that was made into the movie, October Sky.  Biography  Call#: Hickam.  (See the movie, October Sky.)

Imagine.  Johns Hopkins University Press for the Study of Exceptional Talent.  Each issue contains stories from students who have succeeded in academic competitions or attended challenging summer camps.  Teen magazine display area

James, Simon. Baby Brains Superstar.    Easy (Picture Books) Call# IAM

Luddy, Karon. Spelldown.    Young Adult Fiction;  Call#: LUD

Maguire, James. American Bee the National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds : the Lives of Five Top Spellers as They Compete for Glory and Fame.   NonFiction;  Call#: 372.532 MAG

McDonald, Janet. Spellbound.  Young Adult Fiction  Call#: MCD

Moriarty, Laura. The Center of Everything.   Math whizzes.  Not all children fulfill their early promise.   Fiction, Books on CD  Call#: MOR

Olson, Steve. Count Down Six Kids Vie for Glory At the World’s Toughest Math Competition.  The behind-the-scenes story of the American Mathematics Competition and the International Math Olympiad, coached by UNT’s Dr. Titu Andreescu.  Non Fiction  Call#:  510.79 OLS

Peters, Julie Anne. How Do You Spell Geek.     Juvenile Fiction  Call#: PET

Silverstein, Ken. The Radioactive Boy Scout the True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor.    Biography Call#: HAHN

Tammet, Daniel. Born on a Blue Day: the Memoir of an Extraordinary Mind.   Call# TAMMET

Yee, Lisa. Millicent Min, Girl Genius.   Young Adult Fiction  Call#: YEE

Science books for young adults

The 25 greatest science books of all time, per Discover magazine, December 2006.  If you can find the actual magazine, it also lists 50 best-seller science books, some of which will be easier reading.