Linda Liukas children's book for programming

25 September 2016

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Last September 13, the publishing house Hea Lugu, Telia and Tech Sisters presented the children's book "Tere, Ruby! Programmeerimisseiklused" ("Hello, Ruby! Programming adventures). Liukas is a computer programmer and children's book writer who got interested in creating websites at a very young age. This book is a playful and fantastic way to introduce young children into the world of computer programming.

The event took place at the bookstore Rahva Raamat in Viru Keskus. Here's what Riin Kont-Kontson, one of our Tech Sisters, had to say about the event:
Something happened on September 13 which made me want to be a kid again. On that particularly exciting evening, Linda Liukas presented her awesome children's book "Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding" at Rahva Raamat in Viru Keskus. And what is even more exhilarating, it is now available in Estonian! We had to wait it to be translated into 18 different languages before, but finally it was our turn to get our kids to get to be thrilled about technology in our own mother tongue.
The author of the book gave an interview and explained that it is a story book for the kids to have positive role models, and to introduce children to the concept of computational thinking even before they start coding themselves. Linda was also asked about why the main character of the book is a girl. She answered it by telling a story about a little boy who, after reading the book, stated his favourite character to be Ruby. This made the author of the book very happy because now this boy is going to grow up having a female role model from the tech world, instead of the common male role models. Linda also pointed out that there is a difference between screen time and screen time, that there is a difference between the child being a passive consumer or an active creator, inviting the parents to ask their children more about what they do on the computer and not letting them be behind the screen all day long.
After the presentation, it was also possible to get a signed copy of the story book. One thing's for sure - my problems of choosing the right gift for my younger (and why not older) friends has now been solved. Well, until Linda's next books about computer building and artificial intelligence are published, anyway :)
Liukas book can be purchased at the bookstore Rahva Raamat. Learn more about Linda's work on her website: http://lindaliukas.fi/
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