CODING WITH ANNA AND ELSA

A Frozen-branded introduction to coding in Blockly.

This workbook directs readers to a Code.org project page featuring sprites of princesses Anna and Elsa as well as digital ice on which the Frozen heroines can skate, making designs using the block-based coding language Blockly (developed by Google and with visual interface similarities to MIT’s Scratch language). In order to draw various designs, readers are introduced to directional commands, angles, and repeat loops. These build, coaxing readers to group together the written codes in functions and nested functions as well as loops to create more complex designs. Various code quizzes and puzzles, such as multiple-choice activities in which readers match code to output, are scattered throughout (with answers included in backmatter, alongside a glossary). Aside from those quizzes, the book is mostly prescriptive, laying out codes exactly as they should be entered. While the book does introduce coding concepts used in all sorts of programming, it limits itself strictly to covering how to code drawings. While the branding might be enough to lure in Frozen-obsessed kids, all but the newest to coding are likely to be disappointed by how little the book teaches them to do. Anna, Elsa, and Olaf the snowman are the depicted guides, making this an all-white offering.

Considering how many much more versatile coding-for-kids books are out there, it’s best to just let this one go.