The Official Scratchjr Book - by Marina Umaschi Bers & Mitchel Resnick (Paperback)

About the Book

"An introduction to coding for parents and kids. Includes 18 hands-on activities using ScratchJr, a programming language designed for young children (ages 5-7). Teaches computational thinking, literacy, and math skills through animated collages, interactive stories, and playable games."--

Book Synopsis

ScratchJr is a free, introductory computer programming language that runs on iPads, Android tablets, Amazon tablets, and Chromebooks. Inspired by Scratch, the wildly popular programming language used by millions of children worldwide, ScratchJr helps even younger kids create their own playful animations, interactive stories, and dynamic games.

The Official ScratchJr Book is the perfect companion to this free app and makes coding easy and fun for all. Kids learn to program by connecting blocks of code to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing.

Each chapter includes several activities that build on one another, culminating in a fun final project. These hands-on activities help kids develop computational-thinking, problem-solving, and design skills. In each activity, you'll find:
-Step-by-step, easy-to-follow directions
-Ways to connect the activity with literacy and math concepts
-Tips for grown-ups and teachers
-Creative challenges to take the learning further

By the end of the book, kids will be ready for all sorts of new programming adventures!

The ScratchJr app now supports English, Spanish, Catalan, Dutch, French, Italian, and Thai.

Review Quotes

"One thing that I especially liked was the curriculum connections listed out at the end of each chapter. If you happen to be a kindergarten teacher, and have access to tablets, I highly recommend checking this book out."
--Gail Carmichael, Carleton University faculty and Board Advisor for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology

"The Official ScratchJr Book is a great place to start. I highly recommend this book to all early childhood educators getting started with coding in their classrooms."
--EdSurge

"A book for the youngest programmers with lots of step-by-step directions and illustrations for getting the most out of the junior version of Scratch."
--Scholastic's Tech Tools

"Is it ever too early to begin programming a computer? By the end of The Official ScratchJr Book, kids will be ready for all sorts of new programming adventures!"
--Patheos

"The Official ScratchJr Book is a great way to dive into ScratchJr. It's fun, it's challenging, and you can do it too."
--Game Vortex

"This is a well-done guidebook to help parents, siblings, teachers, friends and other family members get up to speed quickly with ScratchJr."
--Phil Shapiro, Scratch Day volunteer

"The Official ScratchJr Book focuses on inspiring creativity and still can be used to learn the nuts and bolts of simple coding and logical thinking."
--STEM Friday

About the Author

Marina Umaschi Bers is a professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development and adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Tufts University. She heads the Developmental Technologies Research group where she studies innovative ways to promote positive childhood development through new learning technologies. She is also the creator of KIBO, a robotics platform for children 4 to 7, which allows young builders to learn programming and engineering skills without screens.
Mitchel Resnick is the creator of Scratch, the wildly popular programming language used in thousands of schools and homes worldwide, with nearly 4 million users. He directs the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab and was awarded the McGraw Prize in Education in 2011 for his creative learning technologies.