A Beginner's Guide to Coding

Gr 2–6—Step-by-step instructions guide young techies through simple Scratch and Python coding tutorials in this relevant guide. Readers will learn how to get started in Scratch, an easy to use web-based coding platform which is also available as an app (Scratch Jr.) for tablets. Scratch's building-block style of coding is pretty straightforward and readers can quickly pick up the basics, creating two fun games along the way. The book then moves on to Python, a text-based coding system with a very specific syntax. Readers will learn to move a turtle around the screen and program an AI game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Python will likely feel less intuitive, but the author reminds coders that mistakes are unavoidable and okay. Python is so complex, it's hard to adequately describe in less than 20 pages, a complaint which will ring true for many beginners' coding workbooks. The spiral-bound hardcover edition will inevitably breakdown in the hands of eager young coders, which could limit its lifespan in a library setting. That being said, with coding integrated into most schools and lots of public libraries, there is certainly an interest in materials like this.