I Can Code: If/Then: A Simple STEM Introduction to Coding for Kids and Toddlers

by Vicky Fang, Jade Orlando (Illustrator)

Introduce your little computer scientist to the essential coding basics and turn their everyday world into an extraordinary learning adventure! Written by an expert, I Can IF/THEN uses simple text, colorful illustrations, and interactive flaps to help little ones discover the building blocks of coding all around them! As they follow along with an adorable story about cause and effect, they'll explore fundamental concepts like conditions, rules, and logic―and have fun doing it. Educators are saying every child needs to know the basics of coding―and this book will get them started as early as possible!

Genres: Picture Books, Stem

22 pages, Board Book

Published October 6, 2020

About the author

Vicky Fang is the author of the Layla and the Bots chapter books series, the Best Buddies early reader series, the I Can Code board book series, and the picture book Invent-a-Pet. She is the author-illustrator of Friendbots, AlphaBot, and the forthcoming Ava Lin and One Mad Cat series. A former Google product designer, she now writes and illustrates children’s books full-time. Vicky Fang lives in California. You can learn more at vickyfang.com.

Reviews

[Steff Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

| Read on Reader Fox |


If I push the ball...

Coding has always been somewhat mind-boggling to me. I've never fully been able to wrap my mind around why typing in a certain code works the way it does. This is even more dejecting when I consider the fact that this is what my boyfriend does for a living. But It's confusing to me. Massively so. Still, I imagine a book like I Can Conde: If/Then by Vicky Fang would definitely be one we'd want to read to our children one day.

The Coding

I was actually genuinely surprised that the book included real coding language. And I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's a great thing to introduce. On the other, I don't know how much young children will understand it. A part of me thinks this is the kind of book that's meant to sort of follow a reader and that they'll return to it repeatedly. In the end, it's certainly a very interesting concept.

And I love the idea of introducing coding information to kids early.

The Story

Admittedly, there's not a lot to the story. It's just an account of a father and daughter at the park. The story uses if/then scenarios to help illustrate how coding works. All these scenarios are very realistic and simple, but I think they do an excellent job of starting the introduction. It's honestly a very cute trip to the park and I love how it was focused on a father and daughter, too.

The language is a bit advanced at times, using words like condition, but the if/then scenarios are at least presented simply.

The Artwork

Illustrated by Jade Orlando, this book is actually pretty amazing as far as the artwork goes. Yes, it's all simple, but I loved how the background was grid-like, very reminiscent for me of technology and math. The colors are bright and vibrant, making it very easy to engage young readers. It also does an excellent job of portraying how coding relates to if/then.

I think, overall, this is a pretty solid book. It definitely allows the opportunity for education and I hope empowers a whole new set of young coders. I'm truly excited that this book exists.

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I CAN CODE: IF/THEN is a book that tries to distill coding concepts to a toddler level. The book takes a brief look at a park trip with a ball. It turns these into conditional if/then statements, such as if I do this, then this happens. The If statement is on the outside of a large flap, which is continued with the Then statement inside the flap, coding language for that and a statement about the coding.

The illustrations are simple but cute, and I really loved that a father is playing with his daughter throughout. The If/Then statements about the child are cute and help introduce if/then concepts. The statements about the coding took a bit of thought for us (non-coding) parents to understand, so I think they will go well over most babies/toddlers heads. However, with parents who are into coding or routinely code, I think this would be a more fun experience to teach simplified concepts to their children - even if they don't grasp them right away.

The flaps are quite a bit of fun regardless, and there is a lot of appeal in the cute illustrations. This board book would be a perfect parent gift to a coder! Please note that I received a review copy through Sourcebooks Early Reads. All opinions are my own.

[Shweta · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Coding - Too many heated arguments all over the interwebs and I have no interest whatsoever in engaging. But I do want my child to be aware of it, get oriented to it in a way that makes it feel like less of a task. ⁣
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While our Unifix cubes are great along with many, many sequence related printables, I like to use books to help her understand certain concepts and we have been reading this book - I Can Code - If / Then by Vicky Fang and Jade Orlando for a week now. It has been well received. ⁣
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A child and her father are at the park and through their interactions little readers are made aware of how conditional statements work. It is not hard to make kids understand if/then statements. They are experts at figuring it out. Mini-me does it in the most mischievous ways possible. But this book succeeded in holding her attention. ⁣
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Text and illustrations are not overwhelming. So the person reading it aloud to the child gets a chance to personalize it the way they like. Just the basics of logic using a very familiar situation and a lovely message to wrap it up. A good primer if you ask me. ⁣

[Mrs Heidrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss for a DRC of this book.

There are some things I really like about the book:
- firstly, the images are colourful and engaging; love the style of the images and I think they'll be engaging for kids
- love the if/then idea as a way of thinking for kids that can be applied to so many different kids
- the idea of making something about coding and taking the idea of computational thinking and applying it to life situations for younger kids is great
- like the idea of demonstrating the idea of how some things are conditional and some are unconditional and giving examples of these
- like the fact that the main character is a little girl as well considering it's a book about coding!

However, I'm not sure if the actual coding language in a kids board book might miss the mark a bit in terms of age though even being exposed to it can be a positive thing.
I look forward to seeing an actual copy of this when it comes out particularly as it apparently has interactive flaps that one, of course, can't see in a digital copy.

[Vidya Tiru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential coding basics for the littlest computer scientist! Using a fun simple story of if/then and colorful illustrations, this book helps little ones understand cause and effect, and some other basic concepts by relating them to what we do everyday. Or rather what little ones do everyday.

I am not sure if including actual coding language in the book might/will make sense to its intended audience; but love the straightforward way of explaining the concept(s). And love that this book uses a father-daughter duo for the story!

I also noticed that this seems to be part of a series; with at least one other book (focusing on the And/Or concept)!

In Summary
A cute series that can make it fun to teach coding to beginning coders.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title for young children follows a dad and his child as it teaches some very basic coding. Through the text, children see this dad and child play with a ball and more as they learn about if/then as a concept. This part of the book is presented on the left hand page. The right hand book pages then use some basic computer language and formulas to describe the actions.

This book has colorful engaging illustrations. It is the only title that I have seen on this topic that is written for the youngest children and I recommend it for that reason.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Board Book
I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Kids through NetGalley.
An introductory book that shows If/Then statements all around us. Fang uses a trip to the park to show what happens when a child plays with a ball. The book is written using simple sentence structures and lets readers see the coding used to create the same response. Brightly colored pictures pull readers in to enjoy the fun and may keep coding from seeming so scary as they grow up. If toddlers grow up with these concepts, they will be able to apply them and adapt to new fields of study later on.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to turn your little one’s day into an adventure by introducing them to coding. This teaches your budding scientist the basics of essential coding and prepares your little learner to love to code. Coding is a must need to know concept for the children today and this book starts children off slowly introducing and teaching coding that will eventually become second nature. A must for all kids.

[Sharon Giltrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the moment I heard about this series I was intrigued as both a writer and an educator. A beginners coding book what a great idea. I read the books to my Year 1 class as an introduction to my bee-bot coding lesson. It was great to show the students real life examples of how coding works. Especially using the statements if this then this. Well done Vicky Fang on helping children to see how coding works in everyday life. The illustrations by Jade Orlando are fantastic and captivating.

[Danielle Hammelef · Rating 5 out of 5]

This adorable book not only has bright illustrations that show action and emotion, but tell of the love between dad and daughter. This book introduces an important life concept for toddlers and delighted me with the lift the flap pages to reveal the connections. The ending was also a very sweet surprise which endeared me to this board book.

[Emilee (emileereadsbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids, Sourcebooks Explore for a free digital copy for my review.

Using if/then statements that children will understand, the author outlines how these would be coded into a computer. I think this is a great primer to get kids interested in coding in a way that they will find interesting and feasible.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a lot for a picture book. It’s short and uses actions to describe if/then statements and what they are used for. It also includes how that statement would look written in code. However, the story has a weird ending about love being unconditional. It’s just altogether too much for what is supposed to be a simple book.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an adorable book to give a basic explanation of what if/ then statements do. I like that it even has the programming language on the pages as well. Although this is written for babies, it could be very helpful for introducing the idea to older students quickly and easily.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always pleasantly surprised when I learn something while reading a children’s book. I’ll be checking out the other books in this series.

[Pinky LO · Rating 4 out of 5]

baby toddler

[Helena#bookdreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I liked how short and precise this STEM storybook was breaking down a complex process into simple statements. Perfect for older toddlers.