Hello World!
Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners

By Warren and Carter Sande
Book Review by Elias Gorauskas

Introduction:

This book tells you how to program computers in the Python language. The programs that you do that are described in this book are things like games, how to calculate the temperature in Celsius, and math problems like multiplication. In the first chapter, it shows how to download python and you learn how to program your first program. Later I learned about variables. Variables are names assigned to certain things so that you can type out the name and it will just pop up after the line where you type the variable name. I also learned that there is something in programming called graphical user interfaces (or GUIs) which are things that make boxes and buttons instead of just words on the screen. I also learned about things called loops. Loops are things in the program that keep repeating and repeating themselves. If you are programming a game and you are holding down the space bar and it makes you shoot or jump, a loop will keep you shooting or jumping until you let the space bar up.

Elements of Nonfiction:

• A table of contents shows all the chapters in the book, what they are called, what page they start on, and sometimes what is in them. The table of contents starts on page vii (which is page 7 in roman numerals) and includes all these things.
• An index is a list of everything in the book in alphabetical order. You use an index to find certain pages in the book so that you can find certain information quickly. For example, if you wanted to find out about variables, you should look in the index and it tells you to look on pages 20, 22, 24, and 126. The index in this book starts on page 393.
• A glossary is a list of important words from the text and defines them. It is like a dictionary and index combined. This book doesn’t have a glossary.
• Pictures are used in books when they want to show you something. So, if the book shows you how to do something, a picture can let you see if you did it right. For example, on page 56 there are several pictures of things that you are supposed to see if you did a program right.
• Graphs/Text Boxes are used to highlight certain information and they sometimes include pictures. For example, on page 60, there is a textbox that is called, “thinking like a (python) programmer” that tells you about a programming thing called “help”. “Help” tells you anything you might need to know to help you with something.

Recommendation:

I liked this book because I got to learn how to program and I am interested in programming games. I recommend this book to 3rd or 4th graders who are really into online games and technology because it’s a book about programming and some kids may want to program their own games. In the very first chapter of this book, you get to program your first game that is a number guessing game. It doesn’t have any graphics, although it is really fun. You type in the number you are guessing (it is from 1 to 99) and the program tells you if you are too high or too low and then you can try a number higher or lower than that.

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Number Guessing Game

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