Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding: 1

I'm reviewing based on the Finnish version now, but I'll update this later if needed. (Update: The second half of the Finnish book has a better layout than the English book: the Finnish publisher has used the space more carefully so that most of the texts are larger, which is more inviting. It doesn't affect what I wrote in my review.)I find the book useful as an adult. I know coding, but I didn't know simple ways to talk about it with people who don't. I found the part about exercises especially useful, and I think some of them could be modified for older children or even adults. I like the charming way the author has drawn much by hand and I like the colours.The book started at Kickstarter as a crowdfunding project, and I noticed that some people complained that they paid more than the book costs now. Isn't that the idea of crowdfunding, to support the project that you would like to see coming to life. I have lately supported a successful crowdfunding book project, and my biggest wish is that the authors make the book available. My rewards aren't that important, and I happily paid much more than they will be worth. I think that is what crowdfunding is all about, making things happen for greater good. I don't know the author of Hello Ruby personally, but if this was my idea about crowdfunding, it may have been hers too, and she probably thought that her biggest duty towards the supporters was to make the book widely available. I'm happy that she did because I think this brilliant book is worth it. Thank you for all who gave their support for this book.I enjoy the many half-hidden computer world references in the first part of the book.I think the book has quite good insights about what's different about computers and people. People can grow into creativity and wisdom, while computers handle data. Computers are there for people to tell them what to do, not the other way around. I'm pleasantly surprised that a book that is listed as a children's book manages to address these profound topics in such a lively way. It also reminds us that we don't want our children to become like computers, and how important it is that they spend time around people and not just computers and like devices. This book helps to learn what computers are about, not just blindly using them.I recommend the book for teachers, parents and computer science students. It's a good teacher resource whatever the age of your students, and the ideas in this book can bring some life to more complicated materials. I recommend it especially to Waldorf school teachers who may be looking for creative ways to introduce the topic.Note: the exercises in this book are done without a computer.

My six year old is fascinated with computers and coding and after watching a TED talk by the author on Monday night I ordered her book. It arrived on Tuesday and we read the story in one go. He had lots of questions and really loved the story. The real added value came in the second part of the book, the games and activities that help prepare young minds for coding are fun and he loves them! He likes knowing what the games help with and I have to say he's pretty good! (I am his mummy so I am a little bias!) The website has even more activities and printable resources so I think that adds even more value. We have used it as a spring board and we are now looking into scratch as a way for him to start coding without being able to read or write (spell) fluently. Lovely lady, lovely book, great resource. I wish she would write another one for the "next step"!

I've bought this book as a homeschooling parent and I think it's great, the story is interesting and the included activities are appropriate to kid's age, fun and still educational and to point (teaches the basics of coding). Activities can be easily modified to easier / harder to fit the kid's individual needs or interests. I guess it would be easy to understand and use even if you have no coding experience (I have some though, so I guess you have to try yourself :) ). A basic knowledge of algebra and logic that you've probably encountered at high school would be sufficient.

Beautifully produced and my daughter was engaged in the story, but the main story didn't seem to involve much problem solving, seemed to be a series of name drops like Snow Leopard without much reference to their real world impact. The exercises at the end are fully practical, though we haven't worked through them all yet.

A fantastic little book that introduces computational thinking to young children; you follow the story of Ruby as she goes on a quest to find gems left by her father, each chapter has a focus on one aspect of computational thinking and if you were only reading the book you might miss what the trick here is. At the end of the book there's a different activity for each chapter, these are well explained and I think children will really engage with the topic; I would have liked the activities to be ones that you could take up and just start using, but as it is you're probably going to want paper coloured pencils and maybe a photocopier!

Teaching computer science and computational thinking skills to young children can be challenging. As a teacher I think this book is ideal for introducing the concepts and skills to 4-7 year olds, even if you don't feel confident with some of the concepts yourself. The helloruby.com website is also excellent, and I like that you can download resources to support the activities without having to cut up your book. I would definitely recommend this.

Not enough integration of technical/technique, pretty book and nicely presented

Bought this book for my 4YO daughter and she absolutely loved it. Great bedtime story in its own right, well written and engaging, with the added bonus that it introduces computing concepts. Lots of fantastic exercises and puzzles in the back that we've only just started, but promise to many hours of entertainment and learning.