Thank you, Ruth Spiro, Charlesbridge, and NetGalley for the digital copy. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

If the kid is smart enough, they will read in-between the lines and learn to hack Intelligence agencies and participate in covert operations.

If not, I suspect they become Lord of the playground, with the swing serving as their throne.

All-in-all, a fun little gift for a second grade kid with science on their mind. I imagine this, along with the other entries in the series explaining STEM for kids would serve as a launching pad to explore the field given ChatGPT is but a click away. Querying the words 'algorithm' and 'loop' will be more than enough to be introduced to hours of material, falling down a rabbit hole of hard facts instead of using their parent's credit card to spend thousands in a pay-to-win mobile game.

The illustrations were fun. With roles inverted, it is the child teaching the adult the fantastical operations of a computer and how 'code' is a method of conversing with it.

Given the age category the book was tailored for and the goal of the author, it would be anything but unproductive to have a child running around with this book, re-reading it and in 20 years, dusting it off to have it read to his child.

What a GREAT title to introduce coding! I loved the illustrations, and there was a great text-per-page balance for young readers. I will absolutely be purchasing copies for our library.

This informative and amusing book puts a child in the role of explaining coding to an adult. It's funny and instructive as the child has to support the adult’s learning and consider the adult’s responses. The child has to explain clearly and patiently and consider the needs of the adult learner. I love books that do this! It’s effective and funny.

This book was so cute and a very great introduction to coding for grown ups and kids. I loved how the format was the kid teaching the grown up all about it, and found it engaging and interesting myself.

I have had students requesting books on coding. I have not found a book that I have loved. I was excited to see this book pop up and I loved it. I feel like is is the best, well thought out books on coding. I will be purchasing this for the school,

How to Explain Coding to a Grown-Up is possibly one of the most well thought out books on coding available.

The author, Ruth Spiro, has combined humour and visual descriptions to enthral and inspire anyone who picks up this book.
My husband and I sat down to read it before sharing with our eight year old and we were delighted and laughing along with the pages. My husband is a programmer and I watched him mentally check off all the aspects.
This helped me understand the basics of his job better as well as giving a visual insight for our son.

The illustrations are stunning, honestly I'd be tempted to buy this book alone for the piece of art that it is but the actual information has me sold. The simple storyline is perfect for under 10's but informative enough for older children - and adults- as well.
I love the note 'please don't actually open a computer'.

I was gifted a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is a book I plan on purchasing.

How to Explain Coding to a Grown-Up by Ruth Spiro - 5/5

This is a fantastic book. A great way to encourage children to learn something new and share that with a grown up. I am not a coder and the idea of learning how to code seems a bit overwhelming. This book has helped ease some of that feeling as it is not a How-to Code book but more of a What is coding. It was nice to have a book break down what exactly coding is in a way that is easy to understand. It is explained in a cute way and the illustrations made it fun.

I absolutely love this book, I'm not a coder. and my attempts to understand it have previously left me just confused. I won't be starting my own silicon valley startup anytime soon, but I do now understand the very basic fundamentals!

This isn't a "how to code" book, but a "what IS code??" It has just the right level of detail for the age group, and with the "grown-ups don't know everything" built in, you might avoid lots of questions from the said kid!

It's nicely laid out, with bright and fun illustrations.

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

This was a fun picture book aiming to empower children by teaching them how to explain a complex concept like coding to a grown up. The book shows step by step how coding can be explained in simple terms and with examples. The book also encourages the reader to engage with the text by enacting the examples in real life. I especially loved the way the narrative showed that children can be just as competent as grown ups and I’m sure it will be a big hit with curious children everywhere!