Friday 27 October 2017

ReaditDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 27th October 2017 - "Star Wars Coding Projects" by Jon Woodcock and Kiki Prottsman (Dorling Kindersley)

Our second book of the week this week is a fantastic coding journey set in a galaxy far, far away. Get your geek on with the amazing "Star Wars Coding Projects" from Dorling Kindersley...
It may sound a little daunting when you first start thinking about taking your first steps into computer programming. But thanks to the fantastic Scratch programming language project started by MIT in the US, you can get to grips with the basics of putting together amazing programs with a free download of Scratch for most platforms.

http://scratch.mit.edu

Scratch is used in a brilliant new Star Wars-themed book, perfect for fans of the awesome sci-fi saga.

"Star Wars Coding Projects" lets you sort out your Wampas from your Wookies, your Jedis from your Jar-Jars with tons of gorgeously laid-out spreads, highly illustrated with awesome little pixel versions of your favourite characters, and of course all-important Scratch projects to turn your humble home computer into a brilliant platform for your first coding steps.

Oh my! This is the code we're looking for!
Scratch uses an innovative 'click together' approach, where code is assembled like a jigsaw puzzle. Kids really enjoy creating their own animations and scenes, and the book goes into quite a lot of detail, with some more complex projects later on, once your Jedi programming skills are up to muster.

Awesome pixel art and photos from the Star Wars movies help inspire would-be Jedi programmers to create something spectacular
Each one of the programs has a distinctly Star-Warsy theme (everything from programming a trash compactor, to making a brilliant BB-8 Spy maze game). All the resources are linked to, and you can get up and running with Scratch and the book in no time at all.

Thrown for a loop in Asteroid Dash, one of the many interesting demos featured in this awesome project book
It goes without saying that, as massive Star Wars Geeks who love a bit of programming that this hit the nail on the head for us. With the high production values you expect from DK books, tons of lovely artwork, and a whole host of interesting programming projects, it's an instant win.

"Star Wars Coding Projects" by Jon Woodcock and Kiki Prottsman is out today, published by Dorling Kindersley (Kindly supplied for review).