22 ms·

My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

188 points by kp02 13y ago

mu_killnine 13y ago
I backed this project and loved how the author presented per project. I was able to identify with her and, more surprisingly, my non-technical spouse and family were also able to identify with her. I am excited to see where the story of Ruby goes for both my young daughter and myself.
- fastball 13y ago
  I was about to say... It really helps your sales pitch for a whimsical and fun book when you are attractive and have a cute smile that seems full of joy.
nonrecursive 13y ago
This is really inspiring! I had no idea that Linda co-founded Rails Girls, and for some reason I had formed the impression that she was an illustrator before becoming a programmer. I didn't know that she had learned to draw so that she could create the book. This advice is golden, and it's pretty cool to see such joy, enthusiasm, and generosity rewarded.
- nonrecursive 13y ago
  Makes me think that maybe I could write the code equivalent of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" using Java
  - deletes 13y ago
    What about a story of C and undefined behavior.
  - cnlwsu 13y ago
    Be quicker to write the book using Whitespace
  - pwthornton 13y ago
    I think it would be fantastic to have a scary stories version. It would fit in with a slightly older audience too after they grow out of the children's book phase.
  - MartinCron 13y ago
    The method call was coming from... inside the method!
    - kaivi 13y ago
      –Then who was call?
  - wpietri 13y ago
    I would totally buy that book. Also consider doing a software version of "Go the Fuck to Sleep": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vDYOpkoWE#t=0m40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vDYOpkoWE#t=0m40s Bonus points if you can get Samuel Jackson to narrate it.
  - hawkharris 13y ago
    I know that you're just kidding, but in all seriousness, a "Scary Stories" book would be useful as a training doc. Most startups have a coding conventions guide for new hires -- and in my experience, it's a dry and tedious thing to study. It would be funny and interesting to engage new programmers with animated horror stories instead of just: "Braces go on the next line...and please sanitize your data."
  - noinput 13y ago
    Joe PHP is on the loose, try and catch him.
  - pirateking 13y ago
    This sounds like an AMAZING idea for a Security book.
  - balls187 13y ago
    Makes me chuckle thinking of Bill Gates reading Code Complete as a bedtime story.
    - jeena 13y ago
      Just for those who didn't get the reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkBphtQRxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkBphtQRxs
jonesetc 13y ago
> Start a blog where you share progress on your project. This will hold you accountable and let people know what you’re working on. For a long time I wrote off the idea of having a blog because it seemed vain. I don't usually have any great ideas that anyone else needs to know about, and my trials of learning new things are just the same as everyone else's. However, over the past few months I've realized that I was dead wrong. Watching a few good series of blogs like [1] and [2] has shown me that even if you don't have anything world shattering it is still great as a means to make learning more important. After all, you can't let down your readers, can you? [1] http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-testing/ http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-te... [2] http://www.jeffknupp.com/ http://www.jeffknupp.com/
- tjr 13y ago
  How do you think the chronological, little-bit-at-a-time blog format compares to longer articles, or books? I've found individual blog posts, linked to from sites like HN or found in web searches, to be greatly helpful, but often when I go to a blog like one of those that you shared here, and try to start reading it from the top, it feels disorganized; the content isn't presented in any ordering that necessarily makes good pedagogical sense.
  - wpietri 13y ago
    When blogs first started getting popular, I thought, "Man, chronological organization is the dumbest possible structure. Somebody will soon come up with something better." And so I never started a blog. Now I just feel dumb for waiting. The best solutions I've seen for this are a) organized post series (e.g., [1]) and posts that aggregate a bunch of things previously written (e.g. [2]). I'd like to see people take that further, so if people have other examples of interesting approaches, I'd love it if they could reply with them. I will say that editorial work is hard. As I've experimented with writing a book, it's clear to me that whatever I think the plan is up front, it's going to change, and that refactoring the structure as I go is expensive. It's cheaper to do it in large batches. So I think most blogs will just always suck in this regard. I suspect the future is in collaboration, where the author and blog readers can collectively build and maintain the table of contents and intro material. That would mirror the writer/editor collaboration that goes into books. [1] http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-us-health-care-system-so-expensive-introduction/ http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-u... [2] This is only an ok-ish example, but it's the only one I could think of: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2014/02/04/how-to-get-published/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2014/02/04/how-to-get-p...
cyberaleck 13y ago
Am I really the only one who things that she is annoying and fake? I literally threw up when I tried to watch her playing Manic Pixie Dream Girl-role. Ruby and Snow Leopard? Really? This book will be completely useless in 5 years when technologies change. She should have wrote about basic CS principles instead. But I guess most of the women just cannot think logically. And that's probably why there are so few women in tech...
- GFK_of_xmaspast 13y ago
  Looks like somebody doesn't like his boy's club getting disrupted.
  - cyberaleck 13y ago
    Name one big tech company that was founded by female founder. Exactly...
- bringking 13y ago
  You are certainly entitled to your opinion on her being annoying and fake, but your last statements are just un-called for. Women cannot think logically? Obviously she though logically enough to create an idea that struck a chord with enough people to raise over 250K? Hacker News shouldn't be the place for such blatant misogyny.
- triplesec 13y ago
  This is a sad grouch, not a coherent analysis. Most Tech books are obsolete in 5 years. Children do not learn from principles, they learn from example and mimesis and play and repetition. You have much to learn about human beings, and until you learn to lighten up and be constructive in the world, you will remain grouchy, unhappy and unfulfilled. So, I suggest a more constructive response for you if you think she's wrong and don't like her style: have a look around: what can you do to make things better?
- digitalboss 13y ago
  Just move on - change the channel, not for you troll. And your remarks towards women not thinking logically is embarrassing to see in this forum. A lot of what we learn today in technology specifics changes frequently - it's the thought process behind our execution and methodologies to build that is the most valuable.
pwthornton 13y ago
I backed the project, and think it will make a great gift for my nephew. It's something he can grow into, where he can read the book part with his parents right now, and then start doing the problems as he gets older. I think this project did well for a few key reasons: 1) STEM, STEM, STEM and code, code, code. The timing is right. Look at all the coverage this got in big mainstream media publications. Here is a project to help your child get into programming at a young age. 2) There is a need for introducing programming to children in an accessible way. There is some stuff on the market, but not that much, and this might be the first centered around a colorful children's book. I also think this is more approachable for parents too. A cold, clinical textbook would scare off many parents. 3) Linda is attractive, bubbly and non-American (on a heavily American site). This never hurts with crowdfunding. The fact that she is female in a heavy male-dominated space helps too. I can't fault her at all for this, and why not harness it? I hope it turns out well and that this is just the beginning for Linda and her books. I'm excited to read it with my future child.
- tomp 13y ago
  How about 4) Linda is a co-founder of Rails Girls. ? Free publicity always helps. I'm not sure how Rails Girls is popular in the US, but considering we have it in Slovenia, I'd say it's pretty successful.
  - pwthornton 13y ago
    Yes, I would agree that should be a fourth point. Another point along those lines is her work with Code Academy and all of her connections there.
  - steveklabnik 13y ago
    Rails Girls is pretty damn popular here too, though not _quite_ as much as Europe, it seems. It's pretty wonderful.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
hawkharris 13y ago
I think the children would prefer learning JavaScript: "No class? You're saying we never have to have class?? That's amazing!"
SyncTheory13 13y ago
I've been watching this project since it was first posted on HN, getting giddy over the thought of it. I love the execution in how this book will teach kids about programming. I also love that the main character is a girl and that the whole book is cutesy. I plan on using this both for my own enjoyment, and sharing it with a soon-to-be five year old boy who will be absolutely in love with the little animal/Android characters. I'm toward the end of a rough patch financially, and usually pass up supporting projects on Kickstarter for this reason... But I couldn't resist, and ordered the double package. Congratulations on the extreme success, Linda! I hope you find the process enjoyable enough to continue the series for years to come. I also hope the app or even a little indie game will be possible to create in the future (I realize it won't reach the $500k goal.) As a final note - I just thought of the possibilities of this being implemented in a classroom!
- MartinCron 13y ago
  I just thought of the possibilities of this being implemented in a classroom! Years ago, I was a guest at my son's kindergarten's career day and I showed the kids how I could move around a cartoon mouse with Scratch. I'm not a great presenter or teacher, but the entire class, boys and girls, was completely engaged. They were tossing out suggestions and laughing and I'm convinced they "got" the basics. It was incredibly rewarding.
goldenkey 13y ago
I'm pretty sure the only reason this is getting so much funding is because the majority of computer science folk are horny men who are glossing over the dreamhouse attire / makeup / presentation put on in the video. "Hi I'm little Ruby and I wear polka-dots and pink lipstick, let me be your fantasy" That said, I did fund it, because I'm a horny coder and Linda is very sexy.
- andreasklinger 13y ago
  you are kidding right? why is this even top comment.
  - runamok 13y ago
    I really need to earn the right to down vote. That this nonsense appears so high up bothers me. I supported her campaign because I thought coding needs to be made more approachable and interesting to kids. Let's be honest, most kids have no idea what most professions do. I think just making people more familiar with programming is a great social goal.
    - ZirconCode 13y ago
      Just upvote the rest instead. That's what I did. Eventually this shit will sink to the bottom.
- j2kun 13y ago
  I think you're downplaying the fact that many people still view computer science with mystery, fear, and antagonism. Improving pointlessly negative cultural attitudes from a young age is a worthwhile venture, and I wish someone would do it with mathematics as well.
  - tjr 13y ago
    When I was maybe six years old or so, my mom was taking a calculus class, and had this book checked out from the library: http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~swann/mcsqrd.html http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~swann/mcsqrd.html I didn't understand the mathematics, but I thought the cartoon characters were delightful. They made me want to learn math, and I could hardly wait until getting to calculus myself, so I could actually understand the book.
apunic 13y ago
Nice idea + hot founder => 100k raised in 24h
yeukhon 13y ago
I like the idea and I backed it. Book for kids can be as simple as picture books. Parents and mentors are the one supposed to help them to learn the hard stuff. But I also want to say that I have some feedback for the video. I just thought there was too much "smiles". I don't know how to put it: but it's strange and weird to see someone posting a video of her smiling like literally every few seconds, throwing things every minute or so. A bit formal will be great. There was too many moving. Scenes were constantly changing while the speech was on-going. It was hard to concentrate, pay attention to the dialogue and the animation at the same time. The main point wasn't delivered/pitched to me right away. I wasn't too sure what exactly would go into the book and how parents/mentors can help guide the kids in general from the video. Essentially, an ad that changes scene every 1 second is going to hurt viewers. Here is another project (which I backed too), I am not trying to promote it (but putting out here is guilty of promoting it). Check wongfuproduction movie fundraising video on Youtube. That was a lot easier to grasp. Just my 3 cents. Good luck.
- tomek_zemla 13y ago
  I suspect that the goal was to show the author's personality. The word that comes to mind is playful. This is a book for 5 to 7 year olds. You want it to be playful to capture children's attention and imagination. Judging from number of sexist comments around this was misinterpreted in number of wrong ways. Fortunately, as the campaign numbers proved there are many people who believe in the presented idea and in Linda being able to deliver a great book that will inspire kids to learn even more about the technology!
  - justathrow2k 13y ago
    "The word that comes to mind is playful. This is a book for 5 to 7 year olds. You want it to be playful to capture children's attention and imagination." To play Devils Advocate, the video was not intended for children. Unless even the kids in the Bay have their hands on fat stacks of cash.
- wpietri 13y ago
  I had similar issues with the video. I normally just ignore Kickstarter videos, but watched this one hoping to learn more about what was in the book and workbook. It definitely didn't solve my problem, and there was something about the forced gaiety that felt a little creepy to me. What would have been much more effective for me was videos of kids actually working their way through the materials. Lots of potential for visual appeal and warm fuzzies, but practical and on point.
sireat 13y ago
I think pretty much only No. 2 is sufficient and almost necessary these days. That is if you have a community already, you can sell your project/book even if it lacks much substance(this project certainly has some substance and is a good cause). If you do not have the early adopters who will also help you spread the word to secondary adopters, you are SOL. There have been countless posts on HN where the author has made some amazing sales on e-book, SaaS MVP, apps, other software, and so on. In pretty much all those cases, they already had some sort of community/e-mail list to kickstart(ahem) the sales.
eliteraspberrie 13y ago
The practical advice in this post is gold. Marketing to a select community is true for apps as well as Kickstarter.
kaivi 13y ago
Would really like to see a couple of starting pages from this book. I hope she has an idea about how to deliver this stuff to children: coding by itself is pointless for somebody who does not even comprehend the manifold of applications it can solve. Video games are fun, because they exploit the basic survival instinct within us. With programming, there is no low hanging fruit to reach for a child, as the mental link between writing code and receiving a reward is build by experience, which minors lack. I find it hard to explain the fundraising which went way over the goal, without including gender into equation. Anyway – a pink-colored children's book about tech stuff, written by girls, sounds comforting in every way.
digitalboss 13y ago
Some relevant news - "Women Outnumber Men For The First Time In Berkeley’s Intro To Computer Science Course" - good to see this growth and interest. http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the-first-time-in-berkeleys-intro-to-computer-science-course/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the...
nhangen 13y ago
This project was the subject of a lot of debate when it launched, and at that time, I was on the side of the author because I thought it seemed like a nifty project, though not a fit for what I'd give to my children. Now that I see it turned into a write up like this, I can't help but wonder if those criticizing the project for its intentions were correct.
0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago
Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo. This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern: Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with programming concepts like sequences or sets? That seems like a message from "learn to code" school. So does DRY to a lesser extent.
- mustardhamsters 13y ago
  I'd never thought of Harold and the Purple Crayon as related to programming. How is that? In perhaps the broadest sense the crayon gives him the power and freedom to create in the same way software might, but that's a pretty big leap.
  - 0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago
    Okay, I hope this convinces you it's a leap instead of a pretty big leap: He lives in a seemingly boring world, but it isn't boring after all. It may not even be a world after all. He invents solutions using the contrived rules i.e. using a purple crayon. Some of the solutions become problems. For example the dragon scares him and makes his hand shake, so he falls into the water, but he comes up thinking fast and makes a sailboat. Both these lines remind me of computers or programming: Nine identical pieces of pie that Harold likes best. A forest with just one tree in it. Also word play is important in programming and in HATPK. Lots of things are more like programming than things obviously designated that way such as programming languages. In Hoare's communicating sequential processes he goes on and on about vending machines for example.
- pirateking 13y ago
  Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first book I ever read in my life. Now I draw, paint, and program - and when I do these activities, it is all literally an attempt to harness the power Harold showed me as a child.
- 13y ago
lifeisstillgood 13y ago
It took me a while to work this out - but I think its a great and brave choice. Yes, totally agree software is "literacy 2.0". And yes, of course, we need pre-school books on software. I had weird books teaching me BASIC without putting it into context - and context not ability has been where I have missed opportunities or regreted actions. So I applaud Linda for her insights, hope her world view is one I want my daughter to take into the 21 C, and look forward to seeing my copy at the end of the year.
- thearn4 13y ago
  To be honest, I'd focus less on it being about learning how to code, and more about deductive problem solving skills and numeracy in general. If you have a pretty good foundation there, picking up a particular programming language isn't problematic. I think most people who stumble in basic programming have trouble because of a more fundamental deficiency than "I never learned to code in grade school".
  - cscurmudgeon 13y ago
    I was about to say the same thing. Poorly written software has cost lives. Of course, the vast majority of software devs work on CRUD apps, but increasing this pool will only make it more probable that a huge number of people not well versed in logical skills will be building critical software. Question: Why are we not doing the same thing for the medical profession? Do we say medicine is the literacy 2.0?
  - acdha 13y ago
    Thank you for posting this – I was thinking the exact same thing. The real, huge win for kids is thinking about how to decompose a problem into easier, repeatable steps and that's of benefit in many fields even if you never write a line of code.
  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    Comprehension is different to simple reading and writing of course, and problem solving is a different skill to simple coding. But we teach comprehension through literacy, and we will have to teach coding the same way.
avitzurel 13y ago
I backed the project, I am excited to see what comes out of it. I want to teach my kids (4,2) how to program, if this is a more accessible way, it's worth my money.
balls187 13y ago
Cool idea. My only gripe was after she said she was from Finland, she mentioned Scandinavian summers, when Finland isn't a Scandinavian country. Nordic, yes. Scandinavian, no. Minor quibble for sure.
- balls187 13y ago
  Also git was created in 2005, after Torvalds moved to Portland. So is it accurate to say it was born in Finland?
- tricolon 13y ago
  I'm a Finn and although I didn't truly grow up there, I've always considered Finland a Scandinavian country. You can be pedantic and say that because of geographical and linguistic reasons, it's not Scandinavian, but outside of those specific contexts, no one really cares.
  - balls187 13y ago
    I grew up thinking Finland was also Scandanavian, but I'm a dumb american, and so Geography isn't really my forte. My girlfriend is Swedish-Finn and she was the one who insisted. If you didn't grow up in Finland, have you at least been back to visit? Helsinki is such a great city.
- zurn 13y ago
  In common language Scandinavia is frequently used synonymously with the Nordic countries. WP backs that up too.

188 points by kp02 13y ago

I backed this project and loved how the author presented per project. I was able to identify with her and, more surprisingly, my non-technical spouse and family were also able to identify with her. I am excited to see where the story of Ruby goes for both my young daughter and myself.

fastball 13y ago
I was about to say... It really helps your sales pitch for a whimsical and fun book when you are attractive and have a cute smile that seems full of joy.

nonrecursive 13y ago

This is really inspiring! I had no idea that Linda co-founded Rails Girls, and for some reason I had formed the impression that she was an illustrator before becoming a programmer. I didn't know that she had learned to draw so that she could create the book. This advice is golden, and it's pretty cool to see such joy, enthusiasm, and generosity rewarded.

nonrecursive 13y ago
Makes me think that maybe I could write the code equivalent of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" using Java
- deletes 13y ago
  What about a story of C and undefined behavior.
- cnlwsu 13y ago
  Be quicker to write the book using Whitespace
- pwthornton 13y ago
  I think it would be fantastic to have a scary stories version. It would fit in with a slightly older audience too after they grow out of the children's book phase.
- MartinCron 13y ago
  The method call was coming from... inside the method!
  - kaivi 13y ago
    –Then who was call?
- wpietri 13y ago
  I would totally buy that book. Also consider doing a software version of "Go the Fuck to Sleep": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vDYOpkoWE#t=0m40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vDYOpkoWE#t=0m40s Bonus points if you can get Samuel Jackson to narrate it.
- hawkharris 13y ago
  I know that you're just kidding, but in all seriousness, a "Scary Stories" book would be useful as a training doc. Most startups have a coding conventions guide for new hires -- and in my experience, it's a dry and tedious thing to study. It would be funny and interesting to engage new programmers with animated horror stories instead of just: "Braces go on the next line...and please sanitize your data."
- noinput 13y ago
  Joe PHP is on the loose, try and catch him.
- pirateking 13y ago
  This sounds like an AMAZING idea for a Security book.
- balls187 13y ago
  Makes me chuckle thinking of Bill Gates reading Code Complete as a bedtime story.
  - jeena 13y ago
    Just for those who didn't get the reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkBphtQRxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkBphtQRxs

jonesetc 13y ago

> Start a blog where you share progress on your project. This will hold you accountable and let people know what you’re working on. For a long time I wrote off the idea of having a blog because it seemed vain. I don't usually have any great ideas that anyone else needs to know about, and my trials of learning new things are just the same as everyone else's. However, over the past few months I've realized that I was dead wrong. Watching a few good series of blogs like [1] and [2] has shown me that even if you don't have anything world shattering it is still great as a means to make learning more important. After all, you can't let down your readers, can you? [1] http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-testing/ http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-te... [2] http://www.jeffknupp.com/ http://www.jeffknupp.com/

tjr 13y ago
How do you think the chronological, little-bit-at-a-time blog format compares to longer articles, or books? I've found individual blog posts, linked to from sites like HN or found in web searches, to be greatly helpful, but often when I go to a blog like one of those that you shared here, and try to start reading it from the top, it feels disorganized; the content isn't presented in any ordering that necessarily makes good pedagogical sense.
- wpietri 13y ago
  When blogs first started getting popular, I thought, "Man, chronological organization is the dumbest possible structure. Somebody will soon come up with something better." And so I never started a blog. Now I just feel dumb for waiting. The best solutions I've seen for this are a) organized post series (e.g., [1]) and posts that aggregate a bunch of things previously written (e.g. [2]). I'd like to see people take that further, so if people have other examples of interesting approaches, I'd love it if they could reply with them. I will say that editorial work is hard. As I've experimented with writing a book, it's clear to me that whatever I think the plan is up front, it's going to change, and that refactoring the structure as I go is expensive. It's cheaper to do it in large batches. So I think most blogs will just always suck in this regard. I suspect the future is in collaboration, where the author and blog readers can collectively build and maintain the table of contents and intro material. That would mirror the writer/editor collaboration that goes into books. [1] http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-us-health-care-system-so-expensive-introduction/ http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-u... [2] This is only an ok-ish example, but it's the only one I could think of: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2014/02/04/how-to-get-published/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2014/02/04/how-to-get-p...

cyberaleck 13y ago

Am I really the only one who things that she is annoying and fake? I literally threw up when I tried to watch her playing Manic Pixie Dream Girl-role. Ruby and Snow Leopard? Really? This book will be completely useless in 5 years when technologies change. She should have wrote about basic CS principles instead. But I guess most of the women just cannot think logically. And that's probably why there are so few women in tech...

GFK_of_xmaspast 13y ago
Looks like somebody doesn't like his boy's club getting disrupted.
- cyberaleck 13y ago
  Name one big tech company that was founded by female founder. Exactly...
bringking 13y ago
You are certainly entitled to your opinion on her being annoying and fake, but your last statements are just un-called for. Women cannot think logically? Obviously she though logically enough to create an idea that struck a chord with enough people to raise over 250K? Hacker News shouldn't be the place for such blatant misogyny.
triplesec 13y ago
This is a sad grouch, not a coherent analysis. Most Tech books are obsolete in 5 years. Children do not learn from principles, they learn from example and mimesis and play and repetition. You have much to learn about human beings, and until you learn to lighten up and be constructive in the world, you will remain grouchy, unhappy and unfulfilled. So, I suggest a more constructive response for you if you think she's wrong and don't like her style: have a look around: what can you do to make things better?
digitalboss 13y ago
Just move on - change the channel, not for you troll. And your remarks towards women not thinking logically is embarrassing to see in this forum. A lot of what we learn today in technology specifics changes frequently - it's the thought process behind our execution and methodologies to build that is the most valuable.

pwthornton 13y ago

I backed the project, and think it will make a great gift for my nephew. It's something he can grow into, where he can read the book part with his parents right now, and then start doing the problems as he gets older. I think this project did well for a few key reasons: 1) STEM, STEM, STEM and code, code, code. The timing is right. Look at all the coverage this got in big mainstream media publications. Here is a project to help your child get into programming at a young age. 2) There is a need for introducing programming to children in an accessible way. There is some stuff on the market, but not that much, and this might be the first centered around a colorful children's book. I also think this is more approachable for parents too. A cold, clinical textbook would scare off many parents. 3) Linda is attractive, bubbly and non-American (on a heavily American site). This never hurts with crowdfunding. The fact that she is female in a heavy male-dominated space helps too. I can't fault her at all for this, and why not harness it? I hope it turns out well and that this is just the beginning for Linda and her books. I'm excited to read it with my future child.

tomp 13y ago
How about 4) Linda is a co-founder of Rails Girls. ? Free publicity always helps. I'm not sure how Rails Girls is popular in the US, but considering we have it in Slovenia, I'd say it's pretty successful.
- pwthornton 13y ago
  Yes, I would agree that should be a fourth point. Another point along those lines is her work with Code Academy and all of her connections there.
- steveklabnik 13y ago
  Rails Girls is pretty damn popular here too, though not _quite_ as much as Europe, it seems. It's pretty wonderful.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

hawkharris 13y ago

I think the children would prefer learning JavaScript: "No class? You're saying we never have to have class?? That's amazing!"

SyncTheory13 13y ago

I've been watching this project since it was first posted on HN, getting giddy over the thought of it. I love the execution in how this book will teach kids about programming. I also love that the main character is a girl and that the whole book is cutesy. I plan on using this both for my own enjoyment, and sharing it with a soon-to-be five year old boy who will be absolutely in love with the little animal/Android characters. I'm toward the end of a rough patch financially, and usually pass up supporting projects on Kickstarter for this reason... But I couldn't resist, and ordered the double package. Congratulations on the extreme success, Linda! I hope you find the process enjoyable enough to continue the series for years to come. I also hope the app or even a little indie game will be possible to create in the future (I realize it won't reach the $500k goal.) As a final note - I just thought of the possibilities of this being implemented in a classroom!

MartinCron 13y ago
I just thought of the possibilities of this being implemented in a classroom! Years ago, I was a guest at my son's kindergarten's career day and I showed the kids how I could move around a cartoon mouse with Scratch. I'm not a great presenter or teacher, but the entire class, boys and girls, was completely engaged. They were tossing out suggestions and laughing and I'm convinced they "got" the basics. It was incredibly rewarding.

goldenkey 13y ago

I'm pretty sure the only reason this is getting so much funding is because the majority of computer science folk are horny men who are glossing over the dreamhouse attire / makeup / presentation put on in the video. "Hi I'm little Ruby and I wear polka-dots and pink lipstick, let me be your fantasy" That said, I did fund it, because I'm a horny coder and Linda is very sexy.

andreasklinger 13y ago
you are kidding right? why is this even top comment.
- runamok 13y ago
  I really need to earn the right to down vote. That this nonsense appears so high up bothers me. I supported her campaign because I thought coding needs to be made more approachable and interesting to kids. Let's be honest, most kids have no idea what most professions do. I think just making people more familiar with programming is a great social goal.
  - ZirconCode 13y ago
    Just upvote the rest instead. That's what I did. Eventually this shit will sink to the bottom.
j2kun 13y ago
I think you're downplaying the fact that many people still view computer science with mystery, fear, and antagonism. Improving pointlessly negative cultural attitudes from a young age is a worthwhile venture, and I wish someone would do it with mathematics as well.
- tjr 13y ago
  When I was maybe six years old or so, my mom was taking a calculus class, and had this book checked out from the library: http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~swann/mcsqrd.html http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~swann/mcsqrd.html I didn't understand the mathematics, but I thought the cartoon characters were delightful. They made me want to learn math, and I could hardly wait until getting to calculus myself, so I could actually understand the book.

apunic 13y ago

Nice idea + hot founder => 100k raised in 24h

yeukhon 13y ago

I like the idea and I backed it. Book for kids can be as simple as picture books. Parents and mentors are the one supposed to help them to learn the hard stuff. But I also want to say that I have some feedback for the video. I just thought there was too much "smiles". I don't know how to put it: but it's strange and weird to see someone posting a video of her smiling like literally every few seconds, throwing things every minute or so. A bit formal will be great. There was too many moving. Scenes were constantly changing while the speech was on-going. It was hard to concentrate, pay attention to the dialogue and the animation at the same time. The main point wasn't delivered/pitched to me right away. I wasn't too sure what exactly would go into the book and how parents/mentors can help guide the kids in general from the video. Essentially, an ad that changes scene every 1 second is going to hurt viewers. Here is another project (which I backed too), I am not trying to promote it (but putting out here is guilty of promoting it). Check wongfuproduction movie fundraising video on Youtube. That was a lot easier to grasp. Just my 3 cents. Good luck.

tomek_zemla 13y ago
I suspect that the goal was to show the author's personality. The word that comes to mind is playful. This is a book for 5 to 7 year olds. You want it to be playful to capture children's attention and imagination. Judging from number of sexist comments around this was misinterpreted in number of wrong ways. Fortunately, as the campaign numbers proved there are many people who believe in the presented idea and in Linda being able to deliver a great book that will inspire kids to learn even more about the technology!
- justathrow2k 13y ago
  "The word that comes to mind is playful. This is a book for 5 to 7 year olds. You want it to be playful to capture children's attention and imagination." To play Devils Advocate, the video was not intended for children. Unless even the kids in the Bay have their hands on fat stacks of cash.
wpietri 13y ago
I had similar issues with the video. I normally just ignore Kickstarter videos, but watched this one hoping to learn more about what was in the book and workbook. It definitely didn't solve my problem, and there was something about the forced gaiety that felt a little creepy to me. What would have been much more effective for me was videos of kids actually working their way through the materials. Lots of potential for visual appeal and warm fuzzies, but practical and on point.

sireat 13y ago

I think pretty much only No. 2 is sufficient and almost necessary these days. That is if you have a community already, you can sell your project/book even if it lacks much substance(this project certainly has some substance and is a good cause). If you do not have the early adopters who will also help you spread the word to secondary adopters, you are SOL. There have been countless posts on HN where the author has made some amazing sales on e-book, SaaS MVP, apps, other software, and so on. In pretty much all those cases, they already had some sort of community/e-mail list to kickstart(ahem) the sales.

eliteraspberrie 13y ago

The practical advice in this post is gold. Marketing to a select community is true for apps as well as Kickstarter.

kaivi 13y ago

Would really like to see a couple of starting pages from this book. I hope she has an idea about how to deliver this stuff to children: coding by itself is pointless for somebody who does not even comprehend the manifold of applications it can solve. Video games are fun, because they exploit the basic survival instinct within us. With programming, there is no low hanging fruit to reach for a child, as the mental link between writing code and receiving a reward is build by experience, which minors lack. I find it hard to explain the fundraising which went way over the goal, without including gender into equation. Anyway – a pink-colored children's book about tech stuff, written by girls, sounds comforting in every way.

digitalboss 13y ago

Some relevant news - "Women Outnumber Men For The First Time In Berkeley’s Intro To Computer Science Course" - good to see this growth and interest. http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the-first-time-in-berkeleys-intro-to-computer-science-course/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the...

nhangen 13y ago

This project was the subject of a lot of debate when it launched, and at that time, I was on the side of the author because I thought it seemed like a nifty project, though not a fit for what I'd give to my children. Now that I see it turned into a write up like this, I can't help but wonder if those criticizing the project for its intentions were correct.

0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago

Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo. This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern: Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with programming concepts like sequences or sets? That seems like a message from "learn to code" school. So does DRY to a lesser extent.

mustardhamsters 13y ago
I'd never thought of Harold and the Purple Crayon as related to programming. How is that? In perhaps the broadest sense the crayon gives him the power and freedom to create in the same way software might, but that's a pretty big leap.
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago
  Okay, I hope this convinces you it's a leap instead of a pretty big leap: He lives in a seemingly boring world, but it isn't boring after all. It may not even be a world after all. He invents solutions using the contrived rules i.e. using a purple crayon. Some of the solutions become problems. For example the dragon scares him and makes his hand shake, so he falls into the water, but he comes up thinking fast and makes a sailboat. Both these lines remind me of computers or programming: Nine identical pieces of pie that Harold likes best. A forest with just one tree in it. Also word play is important in programming and in HATPK. Lots of things are more like programming than things obviously designated that way such as programming languages. In Hoare's communicating sequential processes he goes on and on about vending machines for example.
pirateking 13y ago
Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first book I ever read in my life. Now I draw, paint, and program - and when I do these activities, it is all literally an attempt to harness the power Harold showed me as a child.
13y ago

lifeisstillgood 13y ago

It took me a while to work this out - but I think its a great and brave choice. Yes, totally agree software is "literacy 2.0". And yes, of course, we need pre-school books on software. I had weird books teaching me BASIC without putting it into context - and context not ability has been where I have missed opportunities or regreted actions. So I applaud Linda for her insights, hope her world view is one I want my daughter to take into the 21 C, and look forward to seeing my copy at the end of the year.

thearn4 13y ago
To be honest, I'd focus less on it being about learning how to code, and more about deductive problem solving skills and numeracy in general. If you have a pretty good foundation there, picking up a particular programming language isn't problematic. I think most people who stumble in basic programming have trouble because of a more fundamental deficiency than "I never learned to code in grade school".
- cscurmudgeon 13y ago
  I was about to say the same thing. Poorly written software has cost lives. Of course, the vast majority of software devs work on CRUD apps, but increasing this pool will only make it more probable that a huge number of people not well versed in logical skills will be building critical software. Question: Why are we not doing the same thing for the medical profession? Do we say medicine is the literacy 2.0?
- acdha 13y ago
  Thank you for posting this – I was thinking the exact same thing. The real, huge win for kids is thinking about how to decompose a problem into easier, repeatable steps and that's of benefit in many fields even if you never write a line of code.
- lifeisstillgood 13y ago
  Comprehension is different to simple reading and writing of course, and problem solving is a different skill to simple coding. But we teach comprehension through literacy, and we will have to teach coding the same way.

avitzurel 13y ago

I backed the project, I am excited to see what comes out of it. I want to teach my kids (4,2) how to program, if this is a more accessible way, it's worth my money.

balls187 13y ago

Cool idea. My only gripe was after she said she was from Finland, she mentioned Scandinavian summers, when Finland isn't a Scandinavian country. Nordic, yes. Scandinavian, no. Minor quibble for sure.

balls187 13y ago
Also git was created in 2005, after Torvalds moved to Portland. So is it accurate to say it was born in Finland?
tricolon 13y ago
I'm a Finn and although I didn't truly grow up there, I've always considered Finland a Scandinavian country. You can be pedantic and say that because of geographical and linguistic reasons, it's not Scandinavian, but outside of those specific contexts, no one really cares.
- balls187 13y ago
  I grew up thinking Finland was also Scandanavian, but I'm a dumb american, and so Geography isn't really my forte. My girlfriend is Swedish-Finn and she was the one who insisted. If you didn't grow up in Finland, have you at least been back to visit? Helsinki is such a great city.
zurn 13y ago
In common language Scandinavia is frequently used synonymously with the Nordic countries. WP backs that up too.