Hello Ruby : adventures in coding

The Resource Hello Ruby : adventures in coding

Label

Hello Ruby : adventures in coding

Title remainder

adventures in coding

Statement of responsibility

Linda Liukas

Language

eng

Summary

"Code is the 21st century literacy and the need for people to speak the ABCs of Programming is imminent." Linda Liukas Meet Ruby a small girl with a huge imagination. In Ruby's world anything is possible if you put your mind to it. When her dad asks her to find five hidden gems Ruby is determined to solve the puzzle with the help of her new friends, including the Wise Snow Leopard, the Friendly Foxes, and the Messy Robots. As Ruby stomps around her world kids will be introduced to the basic concepts behind coding and programming through storytelling. Learn how to break big problems into small problems, repeat tasks, look for patterns, create step-by-step plans, and think outside the box. With hands-on activities included in every chapter, future coders will be thrilled to put their own imaginations to work."

Award

Best STEM Books, 2017

Review

Gr 1–4—Bubbly redhead Ruby takes readers on a journey through an imaginary world replete with talking penguins, snow leopards, robots, and foxes who unwittingly teach her basic coding concepts. When Ruby's father travels out of town, he leaves her with a challenge: to find five gems. Armed with four scraps of paper, she uses her analytic skills to draw a map of the imaginary world where the gems are hidden, and children follow Ruby as she looks for them. The hunt for each gem involves a loose tie-in to a host of coding concepts, such as sequencing, patterns, loops, and pattern recognition. Notably, though, none of these terms are used in the actual text of the story; instead they are discussed at length in the post-story "Activity Book" section. Colorful and cheerful illustrations offer enticing Easter egg clues to observant readers throughout are in both the story and the "Activity Book." The visuals also serve to pick up the slack left by the somewhat didactic text. The "Activity Book" furthers the learning of conceptual coding ideas but requires patience and concentration that the intended audience may not yet possess. Kids will not necessarily walk away knowing how to write code but may possibly grasp some of the basic concepts. VERDICT This whimsical coding story could be a great resource for mathematical-minded youngsters but might soar over the heads of those less math-inclined.—Amy M. Laughlin, Darien Library, CT --Amy M. Laughlin (Reviewed 02/01/2016) (School Library Journal, vol 62, issue 2, p114)
Originally a Kickstarter project, this chapter-book/workbook hybrid seeks to introduce programming to young readers. Liukas, a programming-literacy advocate and a founder of Rails Girls, an international organization that offers programming workshops to young women, brings an extensive, impressive computer science background to her book. It opens with profiles of the cast of characters, which represent in-jokes about various computer systems, before starting with titular Ruby coloring in her room (and her drawings are a game for comp-sci-savvy parents, who will enjoy identifying the references). The childlike illustrations are serviceable, and the same can be said for the prose. The plot starts for real in the second chapter, when a postcard from her father sends Ruby on a scavenger hunt for five gems. Using logic-puzzle clues and a map, Ruby plots a course that takes her to each of the other characters, where she quickly solves problems to retrieve the gemsâ€”up until the last gem, which she decides not to even ask for, in a sudden, preachy, shoehorned message about friendship that fails to provide a satisfying story conclusion. While the story isn't particularly successful, the second half of the book consists of exercises to encourage young programmers. The puzzles cover basic computer science tools and concepts with easy-to-follow examples (though the youngest readers may still need adult help), and they sometimes reference the story. Ditch the anemic story and nerd-pandering, but keep the nifty activity book. (glossary) (Fiction/activity book. 5-8)(Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2015)

Dewey number

894.54134

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

no index present

Literary form

non fiction

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/minGradeLevel

Series statement

Hello Ruby

Series volume

0001

Target audience

juvenile

Context

Context of Hello Ruby : adventures in coding

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by City Libraries, City of Gold Coast. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.

Context

Work of