Neat! Thanks for sharing. In chapter 1, change reminder to remainder.
Thanks!
And "Simillarly" to "similarly".
Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
11–20 of 49 posts
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#12"Binary" is a weird place to start. Even adults dont start there.
Yeah, it doesn't appear until page 26 of The Beginner's computer handbook
https://archive.org/details/beginnerscompute0000unse/page/26...
Or page 10 of Inside the Chip, illustrated with Tron cycles
https://archive.org/details/insidechip00hele/page/10/mode/2u...
It's on the cover of Machine code for beginners, but nobody read that one first. (It's available in full though, BTW.)
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#13I really like it. And, please, don't be discouraged by any HN commenters. Creation is the important act, not commenting.
Side note: I get a very Usborne vibe from your story. If you are not familiar, Usborne published a series of introductory computer books for young readers in the late 1980s that were well loved by a lot of us here on HN. You can probably find threads and links to copies of the material here.
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#14The text message conversations between the chapters are good.
The chapters themselves are oddly twee, as if written in the 1950s. I think it's the parts where you talk to the reader in the present tense, to directly describe the characters, that give that impression. It's kind of babying for something generally written at a YA level.
In fact you mix present and past tense from the first paragraph, that's not good, choose one and stick to it.
I'm not at all sure about that cat flipping the switch, either. How does it generate more than one 0 or 1 in a row?
Also: when we mix red paint with green paint, it becomes gray-brown paint, not yellow paint. When we mix red light with green light it becomes (perceptually) yellow light, because that's additive mixing, which does not apply to paint. OTOH perhaps this future art studio uses digital paint, which might work how you want it to, but that's not made clear.
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#15This is for geeky parents who think their kid will absolutely totally get it.
Starting with binary (wonderfully pointless), exponentials and walls of text just show how this is not actually for kids.
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#16> Cat pictures are ageless for little girls like her.
Is that a common stereotype? Felt unnecessary to me, especially for a narrative that bills itself as modern.
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#17Great stuff, reminds me a bit of https://archive.org/details/Gortek_and_the_Microchips_1984_C...
I think your language might be a little too sophisticated for your audience. Try to use shorter sentences and more common words.
Good luck!
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#18Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#19> Cat pictures are ageless for little girls like her. Is that a common stereotype? Felt unnecessary to me, especially for a narrative that bills itself as modern.
Thanks for the feedback. I changed the sentence to something else.
Re: Show HN: A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work
#20How is explaining something with higher mathematics reasonable for childrens? Exponentials arent something you can use. Also shorter sentences are usually easier to understand.
That is a good concern. I have to find another way.