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Our Book Reviewers TOP PICKS!
Careers
This lovely board book looks at how technology is used by a range of roles, covering ships captain, pilot, traffic officer and weather forecaster. It introduces a range of terminology associated with each role, including the equipment and technology they use. There is a diverse range of people demonstrated in the roles, and it emphases that many roles are supported by technology and information.
This book introduces young children to a possible career path they might not have known about and could particularly appeal to those interested in video games. The vocabulary introduces them to a variety of new technical words, and the book includes a glossary to support their understanding of these terms. The reading level is simple enough for children to grasp the content. Text is complemented by photographs featuring people from varied ethnic backgrounds, as well as both men and women. The book belongs to the ‘Careers in STEM’ series, which are ideal for shared reading between children and adults. Together, they can explore various job aspects, connections to other careers, and the role of technology in the broader world.
The Careers Handbook covers careers in 15 sectors of the economy. It is a really comprehensive look at a wide range of roles. Within “Information Technology and computing”, it highlights 8 different roles, including web designer, systems analyst, cyber security analyst and network engineer. It is great to see a range of roles highlighted, not just software developers and game designers. For each role it provides an accessible overview and discusses skills, career paths and related roles. It has a really engaging layout, and uses icons, graphics and colour.
Artificial Intelligence
The Little AI Engineer uses a conversational tone to interact with and inform young readers. It poses questions, and sometimes includes space for children to capture their own thoughts, ideas and reflections. It introduces and defines key terms and highlights a range of every-day uses of AI. It gives examples of AI that children may use, such as facial recognition, auto-correct, search engines and social media. Some thoughts and suggestions for parents/ teachers are included – such as prompting discussions around ethical use of AI, its uses and limitations. There are lots of pictures throughout using multiple drawing styles.
Real world examples of AI usage. Great simple to understand depiction of how machine learning works. The historical timeline of AI is good as it provides the reader with an understanding of how we have arrived here in the 4th industrial revolution. A glossary is also included. Great for the school or home bookshelf.
Regardless of your knowledge level about AI and machine learning, this book will enhance your understanding. It begins with a recap of stories from the Netflix documentary “Coded Bias,” introducing AI and machine learning terminology. Joy provides excellent descriptions of key aspects throughout the book. The narrative then delves deeper into computer vision and its ethical considerations. Boulamwini’s internal struggles with creating a dataset and the ‘power to label’ stand out. She found this power unsettling and explains the ethical concerns related to data classification extensively. This self-questioning approach is crucial for handling datasets ethically. However, it raises the question of how many would take similar care in creating and classifying datasets, or if they would overlook the biases involved. This book is factual, thought-provoking, and essential for understanding the impact of AI systems on the world and its inhabitants. Additionally, it offers delightful snippets of life at the MIT Media Lab and the Lifelong Kindergarten group, where the popular programming language Scratch was created by Mitch Resnick and his team. A must-read for anyone interested in the ethical implications of AI and machine learning. Get Reading!
Online Safety
This picture book is cleverly designed and written so that it reads like many other books for this age group, whilst introducing key Online Safety messages at an age appropriate level. It’s a perfect way into conversations about not meeting up with people who are only online ‘friends’, how easy it is to accidentally spend money online and keeping personal information safe.
A great book for helping children to explore the digital world. With the current focus on smart phones and screen free time, it is good to have a book which talks about smart phones. An excellent book for learning about digital citizenship. Recommended for the home and school bookshelf.
Gets straight into technical topics (eg, multi-factor authentication is covered in chapter 1). It addresses topics teenagers will have covered at school, such as cyber-bullying and follow requests, but also a range of practical topics that get less emphasis. It goes beyond smartphones and considers a range of devices including smart speakers, and use of public and private wi-fi networks. It ends by highlighting potential cyber security careers.
Gaming
Designed for young learners, this book simplifies complex concepts and makes coding fun. Python is an excellent programming language for beginners, including children, because of its simple and readable syntax. Learning Python can serve as a solid foundation for understanding more complex programming languages in the future. Additionally, Python is widely used in various fields, including web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and more, making it a valuable skill for future career opportunities.
A perfect off screen way to support interest in gaming. Part of a trilogy with a Minecraft theme. This was written by the author when he was seventeen years old. That in itself is an inspiration for children who need encouragement to merge the worlds of tech and books. A good way to help develop creative and critical thinking, while enjoying an adventure story.
Into the Game – is the first in an ongoing series of official Minecraft books, which will really appeal to children of this age group who love playing Minecraft themselves. The main character group is made up of both boys and girls, each with their own personality, to appeal to a range of readers. One of the main characters is also in a wheelchair, but this rarely mentioned, which means his character is not defined by his disability. The book refers to exciting aspects of possible future technology, mostly with a focus on virtual reality, such as attending school virtually, or shopping through VR. The story ends on a cliff-hanger, which means I can’t wait to read the next one…!
Digital Citizenship
A great picture book that introduces and talks to children in an age appropriate way about data protection, the use of data and the impact of data upon and in their lives. Conversations around digital literacy can never start too early. This is a wonderful book that should take its place on home and school bookshelves.
A non-fiction book, easy to read and introduces some storytelling elements by looking at the history and evolution of robots and AI. The role of science fiction is also highlighted in the development of new technologies, with discussion of ides such as Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics. It goes slightly beyond the remit mentioned in the title, to introduce the concepts of big data, the internet of things and virtual reality. It presents concepts such as algorithms, smart homes and self-driving cars in an engaging way, with both photos and illustrations.
The two main characters of this fiction book are a boy and girl (twins) that readers who have an interest in technology, and particularly gaming, will relate to. The author uses humour throughout to engage the audience, but balances this with enough emotion to bring the characters to life, making them believable and ensuring the story feels meaningful. Whilst the technology in this book would definitely be described as ‘science fiction’ – or even magic (characters control each other using a video game controller) – there are frequent references to well known real-life video games as well as other cultural references such as YouTube and Amazon, which will again appeal to readers in this age bracket. At times, the book is in danger of reinforcing gender stereotypes, as well as other stereotyping such as ‘nerds’, ‘bullies’, and messages around self-esteem related to body image. But this feels deliberate, to help readers relate to the feelings of the characters, and is balanced by the book’s ending, which emphasises the importance of believing in yourself and not pretending to be someone you’re not. There are other more subtle challenges to gender stereotypes too, such as the female twin being better at playing video games, while the male twin prefers to style their hair and clothes. With its humour (including just the right level of toilet humour for this age group), excitement and variety of funny characters, this book is likely to appeal to gamers who are already keen readers, as well as those who may not usually read as much.
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