Technology: Cool Women Who Code

by Andi Diehn

Do you listen to music with an MP3 player or read books on a tablet? Do you play multiplayer video games with people on the other side of the world? Do you have a robot cleaning your kitchen? Maybe not yet, but someday!

In Technology: Cool Women Who Code, kids in grades four through six learn about the thrilling effort that goes into researching, inventing, programming, and producing the technology we use today, from iPods to mechanical limbs. Young readers discover exactly what technology is, how it evolved, and where the future may lead. They also meet three women who have contributed to the field in critical ways, including Grace Hopper and Shaundra Bryant Daily.

Technology: Cool Women Who Code combines high-interest content with links to online primary sources and essential questions that further expand kids’ knowledge and understanding of a topic they come in contact with every day. Compelling portraits of women who have excelled in meeting the challenges of their field keep kids interested and infused with a sense of possibility and determination.

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Andi Diehn graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College, relied on a freelance writing career when her children were young and childcare was expensive, and now works as a children’s book editor and marketer at Nomad Press. She has written eleven nonfiction books for the educational market, and her fictional picture book on mental illness, MAMA’S DAYS, is forthcoming this year from Reycraft Books. She has six more nonfiction picture books scheduled to release over the next two years.

Andi also works as a bookseller at her local indie in rural New Hampshire, where she lives with her husband, three sons, and lots of pets.

Reviews

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, engaging resource! It provides a good overview of technology in general followed by biographies of three women who have made, or are currently making important contributions in tech fields. The text is broken up into 'bite size' sections, making it less intimidating for kids. This format makes it easy to flip through and pick out what interests you, but can make the text seem a little disjointed if you are reading it through. QR codes are included throughout the text leading to a variety of online resources including videos and digital access to primary sources. These sites are also listed in the back of the book for those without a device that can read QR codes. Scattered throughout the book are short (usually 1/2 page) sections highlighting women in tech who in some way relate to the main text, including Ada Lovelace. The back of the book includes a timeline, some discussion questions, glossary, a list of both online and book resources, and an index.