Through late 2015 and the start of 2016 I was working on a “secret project” that I could only allude to in conjunction with Walker Books UK and Young Rewired State – to write a book to get kids coding. As a hirer, I’ve seen first hand the difficulty in getting a diverse range of people through the door into technology roles, and I thoroughly believe that the best way we solve the problem is from the ground up - changing the way we teach computer science.

We live in a world where the resources to teach programming are widely available if there’s an appetite for it, and the barrier to entry is lower than ever, so in some ways, this is my contribution to the movement.

 

Get Coding is a beautifully illustrated (courtesy of Duncan Beedie) book that takes a “broad not deep” approach to teaching HTML5, JavaScript and CSS to kids from ages 8 and up. It was edited by Daisy Jellicoe at Walker Books UK, and without her attention to detail and enthusiasm it wouldn’t have come out half as well as it did. It’s quite long, at 209 pages, and comes with a story that children can follow along to.

Learn how to write code and then build your own website, app and game using HTML, CSS and JavaScript in this essential guide to coding for kids from expert organization Young Rewired State. Over 6 fun missions learn the basic concepts of coding or computer programming and help Professor Bairstone and Dr Day keep the Monk Diamond safe from dangerous jewel thieves. In bite-size chunks learn important real-life coding skills and become a technology star of the future. Young Rewired State is a global community that aims to get kids coding and turn them into the technology stars of the future.

The book is available on Amazon and in major high street bookstores.

I’ve been thrilled by the response from friends, family and the community, and it made the sometimes quite stressful endeavour thoroughly worthwhile. After launch, Get Coding! has ended up number 1 in a handful of Amazon categories, was in the top 2000 books on Amazon.co.uk for about a week, and has received a series of wonderfully positive reviews, not to mention being recently featured in The Guardians Best New Children's Books Guide for Summer 2016.

I’ll leave you with a few photos I’ve been sent or collected and hope that perhaps you’ll buy the book.