Books for Gifted Students
The Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted (WATG) is proud to offer Summer Scholarships to support gifted students in pursuing enriching educational experiences beyond the traditional classroom. These scholarships provide financial assistance for students to attend summer programs, camps, and other specialized learning opportunities that align with their unique talents and interests. Whether exploring STEM, the arts, leadership, or other advanced studies, our scholarships help ensure that all gifted students have access to meaningful growth experiences. WATG is committed to fostering the potential of Wisconsin's gifted youth by expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities.
As part of the application, students must submit either an essay or a video/multimedia presentation, along with one reference letter from a teacher or a non-family member. The essay or presentation should address the following:
- Personal background and advanced enrichment needs.
- A description of the summer program or class you wish to attend and the reasons for your interest in it.
- An explanation of why you believe you are a strong candidate for this scholarship.
Student Summer Scholarships
Logo Contest
Calling all creative K-12 students across Wisconsin! Each year, Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted invites students to design a logo for our Annual Conference, and we're excited to see your creativity shine.
Deadline Extended: April 15, 2025 at midnight
Theme for the 2025 Conference: Take a Chance on Gifted Education!
Conference Dates: October 5–7, 2025
Location: Wisconsin Dells
Size: No larger than 4" x 4"
Color: Black and white only
Adaptability: Must be scalable (use bold lettering and simple, non-intricate designs)
Submit your original logo design to help us represent this year's theme! Winning artwork will be featured in conference materials and recognized statewide.
How to Submit: Email your logo to watg@watg.org
101 Success Secrets for Gifted
Description: This kid-friendly guide teaches gifted learners how to navigate stress, friendships, executive functioning, and school challenges.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It offers relatable scenarios and practical tools that speak directly to their lived experiences.
Ideal for: Upper elementary and middle school gifted students
Link: https://amzn.to/3M1gbOq
5,000 Awesome Facts
Description: A visually rich compendium of quirky, surprising, and fascinating facts across a huge range of topics.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: This is perfect for kids who crave information, love trivia, and devour nonfiction.
Ideal for: Elementary and middle school students
Link: https://amzn.to/4oaz66M
Ada Twist Scientist
Description: This charming picture book follows Ada, a curious young scientist who asks endless questions and launches creative experiments to understand the world. Her persistence and love of discovery drive the story’s humor and heart.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It affirms natural curiosity, experimentation, and divergent thinking – traits common in gifted learners. The book also normalizes big questions and intellectual intensity.
Ideal for: Grades K to 3; early readers
Link: https://amzn.to/4aiqxU0
Audible
Description: A digital audiobook platform hosting thousands of fiction, nonfiction, and educational titles.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: This is ideal for asynchronous learners, auditory processors, or students who want to consume information faster than reading speed.
Ideal for: All ages, especially students with high reading levels or 2e learners with reading/writing challenges
The Big Fat Notebook Series
Description: Comprehensive, student-friendly guides that cover core subjects with clear explanations, visuals, and mnemonic tips.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: These offer depth and connections across topics, encouraging independent learning and critical thinking.
Ideal for: Middle school to early high school gifted learners
Amazon Links
The Book of Learning and Forgetting
Description: Smith examines how humans truly learn by contrasting natural, meaningful learning with the more forced learning often found in schools. His clear explanations challenge readers to rethink traditional educational assumptions.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It validates intuitive learning, deep thinking, and autonomy, while helping gifted students understand why school may sometimes feel out of sync with how they learn best.
Ideal for: Teens and adults
Link:
https://amzn.to/4pJ0qu3
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Description: The inspiring true story of a young Malawian boy who builds a windmill to bring electricity to his village.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: This book encourages problem-solving, innovation, and persistence in the face of challenges.
Ideal for: Middle school and high school students
Link:
https://amzn.to/3JVu5AU
Brain Quest Workbooks
Description: These are fun, colorful workbooks that cover math, reading, science, and social studies. They are designed for at-home practice and enrichment.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: These engage students with thought-provoking questions, games, and quizzes that support advanced thinking.
Ideal for: Elementary and middle school gifted students
Amazon Links
Code This Game!
Description: This is a hands-on guide to creating simple games using coding principles, with step-by-step instructions.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It develops computational thinking, creativity, and logical reasoning.
Ideal for: Late elementary through middle schoolers
Link:
https://amzn.to/47KTfeE
Counting by 7s
Description: This novel follows Willow, a highly gifted and deeply sensitive girl, as she navigates profound loss and builds a new sense of family and belonging. Her analytical mind and emotional depth shape her journey in unique ways.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It authentically portrays intensity, social differences, and the inner world of a gifted child. Many readers see themselves in Willow’s perfectionism, curiosity, and resilience.
Ideal for: Grades 5 to 8
Link: https://amzn.to/4owzahf
David and Goliath
Description: Gladwell explores how disadvantages can become strengths through compelling case studies and psychology research.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: Gifted readers enjoy the counterintuitive logic and analytical thinking inherent in Gladwell’s storytelling.
Ideal for: Advanced middle school readers, teens, adults
Link:
https://amzn.to/3K1ioZC
The Genius Files
Description: This is a fast-paced adventure series featuring siblings with exceptional abilities who travel across the U.S. solving mysteries.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The books combine humor, problem-solving, and high-stakes adventure to engage creative and analytical minds.
Ideal for: Upper elementary to middle school gifted readers
Link:
https://amzn.to/4oKgqLX
The Gifted Teen Survival Guide
Description: This book provides practical advice and strategies for navigating social, emotional, and academic challenges unique to gifted teens.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It provides tools for self-awareness, time management, and managing asynchronous development.
Ideal for: Teen gifted learners and their parents
Link:
https://amzn.to/481HuiL
The Giver Quartet
Description: Lowry’s interconnected novels explore dystopian societies where memory, freedom, individuality, and morality collide. Each book offers thought-provoking questions about what it means to be human.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: Rich themes and ethical dilemmas engage advanced thinkers and invite deep discussion.
Ideal for: Grades 6 to 10
Link: https://amzn.to/4iwkywT
The Inquisitor’s Tale
Description: Told through multiple narrators, this story follows three extraordinary children in medieval France as they encounter miracles, mysteries, and danger.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: Its complex narrative structure and intellectual depth appeal to advanced readers. The book encourages critical thinking about ethics, culture, and perspective.
Ideal for: Grades 5 to 8
Link:
https://amzn.to/49Pa6OO
Mathemagical
Description: Mathemagical is a whimsical math adventure that mixes storytelling with mathematical concepts and clever challenges.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: Combines imagination with logic, offering both narrative engagement and problem-solving.
Ideal for: Upper elementary and middle school gifted readers
Link: https://amzn.to/3KdLqF8
Mathematicians are People Too
Description: This is a collection of biographies and anecdotes about famous mathematicians and their quirky, human sides.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The book shows that brilliant thinkers are relatable, inspiring interest in mathematics and problem-solving.
Ideal for: Middle school to high school students
Link: https://amzn.to/4pdh44v
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Description: After being struck by lightning, Lucy develops extraordinary math abilities but struggles with anxiety and fitting in. Over the course of the story, she learns to take risks, make friends, and embrace more than just her talent.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It depicts perfectionism, social challenges, and asynchronous development with honesty.
Ideal for: Grades 4 to 7
Link: https://amzn.to/4pEm4iO
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Description: These novels are about four exceptionally gifted children who pass a secret test and join a mysterious institute to solve cryptic problems. They are full of puzzles, friendship, and clever twists.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The books celebrate intelligence, teamwork, and creative problem-solving.
Ideal for: Upper elementary and middle school readers
Link: https://amzn.to/44iet17
National Geographic Kids Why?
Description: Here's a massive Q&A book that answers kids’ biggest curiosities about science, nature, space, and everyday mysteries.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The book feeds the "why?" mindset of gifted learners with satisfying, research-based explanations.
Ideal for: Inquisitive students ages 7 to 12
Link: https://amzn.to/4oXDIOK
The Number Devil
Description: In this fictional story, a boy meets a whimsical “number devil” who introduces him to fascinating math concepts.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It makes abstract math concepts engaging and encourages creative, conceptual thinking.
Ideal for: Middle school gifted learners
Link: https://amzn.to/3JTADjv
The Phantom Tollbooth
Description: Bored and unmotivated Milo travels through a magical world filled with puns, paradoxes, and playful logic. His journey awakens his love of learning and teaches him the value of curiosity.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The wordplay, abstract concepts, and clever humor delight advanced verbal and creative thinkers. It encourages students to see learning as an adventure.
Ideal for: Grades 4 to 8
Link:
https://amzn.to/4pJdVtK
Ungifted
Description: A humorous and touching novel about Donovan, a misfit who finds himself mistakenly admitted to a school for gifted children, where he learns about belonging and identity.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It explores themes of difference, social challenges, and self-worth in a relatable, funny way.
Ideal for: Middle school and high school readers
Link: https://amzn.to/4iasVy7
The Way Things Work Now
Description: This is an illustrated guide explaining the mechanics behind machines, inventions, and everyday technology.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: It combines detailed illustrations with clear explanations, fostering curiosity and systems thinking.
Ideal for: Gifted learners interested in engineering, physics, and how things function
Link: https://amzn.to/48lQ3Gr
Who Was/What Was Biography Series
Description: This is a popular series of biographies on historical figures, innovators, and events, written for young readers.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: They encourage historical curiosity, critical thinking, and exploration of diverse perspectives.
Ideal for: Elementary to middle school gifted readers
Links:
The Wild Robot
Description: Roz, a robot who washes ashore on a remote island, must learn to survive and form connections with the animals around her. Through trial, error, and empathy, she discovers what it means to belong.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The story blends STEM ideas with emotional depth and systems thinking. Gifted readers often appreciate its quiet philosophical tone and reflections on identity.
Ideal for: Grades 3 to 6
Link: https://amzn.to/4rv1Gm5
A Wrinkle in Time series
Description: These science fiction classics blend adventure, time travel, and philosophical questions about good and evil.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: They stimulate imagination, abstract thinking, and ethical reasoning.
Ideal for: Upper elementary to middle school gifted readers
Link: https://amzn.to/4i7aJp3
The Young Scientists Series
Description: This is a series of hands-on science books and experiments designed to teach scientific principles in fun, interactive ways.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The books encourage curiosity, experimentation, and independent scientific thinking.
Ideal for: Elementary and middle school gifted learners
Links:
Zoey and Sassafras Books
Description: This is a science-infused chapter book series where a young girl uses the scientific method to help magical creatures.
Why It’s Great for Gifted Students: The books blend fantasy with real science concepts, encouraging inquiry-based thinking and natural curiosity.
Ideal for: Early elementary gifted readers
Link: https://amzn.to/4o8oEfK
