Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World
Lively, engaging how-to empowers girls to love coding.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Reshma Saujani's Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World is an illustrated how-to guide that encourages tween and middle-grade girls to learn coding for computers, including apps, games, websites, and more. After finishing the book, kids should know, or easily be able to go back to find, everything they need to get started coding. Lots of positive role models for collaboration, creative thinking, and problem-solving, including women who've made important contributions to coding and computer science. Lots of positive messages about how fun and social coding is, and that it's like a lot of things kids already like to do.
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What's the Story?
GIRLS WHO CODE: LEARN TO CODE AND CHANGE THE WORLD shows that not only can girls code, but they're also really good at it. Author Reshma Saujani started the nonprofit organization Girls Who Code to help foster enthusiasm for coding and computer science among girls. This book makes the techniques taught at Girls Who Code's many programs and clubs accessible to girls everywhere. Step-by step instructions break the process down and show kids, especially girls, that they can create amazing things with coding.
Is It Any Good?
This lively, engaging how-to teaches tween and middle-grade girls everything they need to get started writing code. The simple explanations in Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World break the process down into small, doable steps with examples girls will relate to. Cute, funny illustrations keep the reader engaged; provide diverse and relatable role models; and show that coding is an active, social, collaborative activity.
Interviews with real-life participants in Girls Who Code programs and clubs spark the imagination by showing a wide range of examples of what can be done with coding to create things that will have a positive impact on others. Entertaining biographies of accomplished women in computer science will foster enthusiasm. Simple but thorough step-by-step guides help girls build the skills they need to do anything they want with coding.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the author's comment in Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World that there are messages everywhere that math and technology are not for girls. What kind of messages does she mean? Have you seen or heard messages like that? Where?
How could knowing how to code help change the world? If you could code something right now that could change something, what would it be?
Did you learn anything about coding or computer science that surprised you? What? Do you think you'd like to try it now?
Book Details
- Author: Reshma Saujani
- Illustrator: Andrea Tsurumi
- Genre: Technology
- Topics: STEM, Great Girl Role Models, History, Robots, Science and Nature
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Viking
- Publication date: August 22, 2017
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 176
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: January 25, 2020
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