Two Books Teach Coding and Computer Science

One book teaches JavaScript in a fun way, the other computer science as fable.

JavaScript for Kids

Computers are dumb. They do only what you tell them. This book teaches kids how to use JavaScript to tell computers what to do, from drawing kittens to making games. It starts with a neat trick: you can code JavaScript in any Chrome web browser. That makes it easy for anyone to work through JavaScript code, from simple to more complicated. Kids familiar with sprites in Scratch will find the JavaScript Canvas familiar. This book is perfect for kids and anyone who wants to graduate from Scratch to a professional language like JavaScript.

The resources section at the back of this book describes all the different ways to expand what you learn in the book. It’s worth the price of the book. Turns out JavaScript can be used not only with web pages. It can be used to run a web server, robots, audio, and many other kinds of projects.

Lauren Ipsum — A Story about Computer Science and Other Improbable Things

No Starch Press has re-issued a wonderful book, Lauren Ipsum, which explains computer science concepts in a fun and often wacky way similar to Alice in Wonderland. Teachers, parents, and kids will have to stop and re-read the text to realize they’ve learned a key concept used in computer science and computing. The story is engages you on its own terms. This version also includes many whimsical illustrations by Miran Lipovača.

Learn More

JavaScript for Kids

http://www.nostarch.com/jsforkids

Lauren Ipsum

http://www.nostarch.com/laurenipsum
https://www.kidscodecs.com/lauren-ipsum/

Author

  • Tim Slavin

    Tim is an award-winning writer and technologist who enjoys teaching tech to non-technical people. He has many years experience with web sites and applications in business, technical, and creative roles. He and his wife have two kids, now teenagers, who are mad about video games.

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