littleBits are electronic building blocks with over 60 modules and trillions of combinations. With littleBits, anyone can harness the power of electronics, microcontrollers, and the cloud--regardless of age, gender, technical ability, or educational background. You can combine these simple, snap-together, magnetic bricks to make simple electronic circuits, or build robots and devices that combine sensors, microcontrollers, and cloud connectivity. This book, co-authored by littleBits founder Ayah Bdeir, along with top-selling author Matt Richardson (Getting Started with Raspberry Pi), teaches you just enough electronics to start making things with littleBits and takes you on up through connecting littleBits to the cloud and programming with its Arduino-compatible module.

Program a graphical adventure game in this hands-on, beginner-friendly introduction to coding in the Python language. Launch into coding with Mission Python, a space-themed guide to building a complete computer game in Python. You'll learn programming fundamentals like loops, strings, and lists as you build Escape!, an exciting game with a map to explore, items to collect, and tricky logic puzzles to solve. As you work through the book, you'll build exercises and mini-projects, like making a spacewalk simulator and creating an astronaut's safety checklist that will put your new Python skills to the test. You'll learn how to use Pygame Zero, a free resource that lets you add graphics and sound effects to your creations, and you'll get useful game-making tips, such as how to design fun puzzles and intriguing maps. Before you know it, you'll have a working, awesome game to stump your friends with (and some nifty coding skills, too!). You can follow this book using a Raspberry Pi or a Microsoft Windows PC, and the 3D graphics and sound effects you need are provided as a download.

Start-to-finish, fun projects for makers of all types, ages, and skill levels! This easy-to-follow guide features dozens of DIY, low-cost projects that will arm you with the skills necessary to dream up and build your own creations. The Big Book of Makerspace Projects: Inspiring Makers to Experiment, Create, and Learn offers practical tips for beginners and open-ended challenges for advanced makers. Each project features non-technical, step-by-step instructions with photos and illustrations to ensure success and expand your imagination. You will learn recyclables hacks, smartphone tweaks, paper circuits, e-textiles, musical instruments, coding and programming, 3-D printing, and much, much more! Discover how to create: • Brushbot warriors, scribble machines, and balloon hovercrafts • Smartphone illusions, holograms, and projections • Paper circuits, origami, greeting cards, and pop-ups • Dodgeball, mazes, and other interesting Scratch games • Organs, guitars, and percussion instruments • Sewed LED bracelets, art cuffs, and Arduino stuffie • Makey Makey and littleBits gadgets • Programs for plug-and-play and Bluetooth-enabled robots • 3D design and printing projects and enhancements

Two foster-system-weary siblings find an unlikely family as they hope for a permanent home.Ira and Zac, veterans of the foster system, are being uprooted again. This time their destination isSkilly House, a London-based home for children. There, Ira, eleven, and Zac, nine, befriend the staffand other kids, all the while hoping to find their own family to belong to.When they’re invited to spend a holiday with Martha, a retiree, the visit opens the children’s eyesto what life in a permanent home might be like. But a tragic accident soon tests Ira, Zac, and Martha.Can they truly come together as a family? This gentle story explores the love and complexities behindthe ties that bind.

“An enthusiastic, example-rich argument for innovating in a particular way—by deliberately experimenting and taking small exploratory steps in novel directions. Light, bright, and packed with tidy anecdotes” (The Wall Street Journal). What do Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, and the story developers at Pixar films all have in common? Bestselling author Peter Sims found that rather than start with a big idea or plan a whole project in advance, they make a methodical series of little bets, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins. Reporting on a fascinating range of research, from the psychology of creative blocks to the influential field of design thinking, Sims offers engaging and illuminating accounts of breakthrough innovators at work, and a whole new way of thinking about how to navigate uncertain situations and unleash our untapped creative powers.

Completely revised and updated, this best-selling introduction to programming in JavaScript focuses on writing real applications. JavaScript lies at the heart of almost every modern web application, from social apps like Twitter to browser-based game frameworks like Phaser and Babylon. Though simple for beginners to pick up and play with, JavaScript is a flexible, complex language that you can use to build full-scale applications. This much anticipated and thoroughly revised third edition of Eloquent JavaScript dives deep into the JavaScript language to show you how to write beautiful, effective code. It has been updated to reflect the current state of Java¬Script and web browsers and includes brand-new material on features like class notation, arrow functions, iterators, async functions, template strings, and block scope. A host of new exercises have also been added to test your skills and keep you on track. As with previous editions, Haverbeke continues to teach through extensive examples and immerses you in code from the start, while exercises and full-chapter projects give you hands-on experience with writing your own programs. You start by learning the basic structure of the JavaScript language as well as control structures, functions, and data structures to help you write basic programs. Then you'll learn about error handling and bug fixing, modularity, and asynchronous programming before moving on to web browsers and how JavaScript is used to program them. As you build projects such as an artificial life simulation, a simple programming language, and a paint program, you'll learn how to: - Understand the essential elements of programming, including syntax, control, and data - Organize and clarify your code with object-oriented and functional programming techniques - Script the browser and make basic web applications - Use the DOM effectively to interact with browsers - Harness Node.js to build servers and utilities Isn't it time you became fluent in the language of the Web? * All source code is available online in an inter¬active sandbox, where you can edit the code, run it, and see its output instantly.

Learn effective ways to teach STEAM with this helpful book from educational technology experts Billy Krakower and Meredith Martin. Whether you have a dedicated STEAM class, or plan to integrate it into a regular classroom, you’ll find out how to create a structured learning environment while still leaving room for inquiry and innovation. You’ll also gain a variety of hands-on activities and rubrics you can use immediately. Topics include: the differences among STEM, STEAM, and makerspaces planning your STEAM space stocking your space with the right supplies planning for instruction and managing class time incorporating the core subjects aligning lessons with standards and assessments getting the administration and community involved taking your class to the next level with design thinking. With this practical book, you’ll have all the tools you’ll need to create a STEAM-friendly learning space starting now. Continue the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #GSwSTEAM!

Caminar is the story of a boy who joins a small band of guerilla fighters who must decide what being a man during a time of war really means.

Winner of the Student Vote, UKLA Book Award 2017 Winner of the Warwickshire Schools Book Award 2017 Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2017 Nominated for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal I've put this story together from the diaries I kept when Zac and I were children. I wrote them because I felt we were almost invisible and I wanted to make sure our story was told, and also in the hope that life would get better for the small unloved girl that was me, and my even smaller unloved brother. And if life didn't get better or at least more interesting I was going to make it up - to put in witches and castles and rides in fast cars. But I didn't need to. Life got exciting all by itself... It's 1987 and Ira and Zac are being uprooted once again, this time to Skilly House, a home for social care children. Their lives over the next few years are beautifully realised amongst the antipathy of the authorities, the drama of the poll tax riots and the moments of peace and hope Ira finds at Skilly and further afield. This is a memorable and moving tale about growing up, making friends and finding a home. Featuring a brand new short story, 'Glenda'. "This remarkable debut novel reads as if written by an experienced children's author at the height of her powers. The story of looked-after siblings of 9 and 11, it is reminiscent of Jacqueline Wilson in its subject and Sharon Creech in its style and generosity of spirit. Instantly engaging, and sustaining emotional involvement throughout... this is an uplifting and convincing evocation of time and place, of two vivid young lives, and of the hope that kindness can offer. It is a gentle story, although sad things happen (expect tears), and it tells us clearly how the feelings of adults and children can be complicated." - The Sunday Times, Children's Book of the Week "...a beautiful book... the characters are brilliantly drawn. SE Durrant writes both economically and subtly as she tells the story of the children and the mysterious Glenda. In spite of its lyrical quality, realism permeates the book and the ending, whilst optimistic, is entirely believable. I can offer no higher compliment than that this is worthy of Elizabeth Laird at her very best." - The Scotsman "Set against the backdrop of the 1990 poll tax strikes and written in diary-like entries, this is a personal and heartfelt tale of growing up as a child in care. It's wonderfully honest and does not shy away from the heartache of loss and longing. What makes it even more special is how Durrant keeps it realistic but maintains a sense of hope and optimism. A must-read but have a box of tissues at the ready." - BookTrust " Little Bits of Sky is a truly, truly, truly lovely story. It's rather difficult to credit it as a debut novel because it is completely comfortable in its own skin from the first page to the last. It doesn t try too hard. It doesn't proselytise. It s just there, feeling deeply authentic and real ... Uplifting and heartwarming without ever being twee, this debut will find a place in the heart of readers of any age. It deserves to do well. I hope it does." - The Bookbag "...this is a rare book that is perfect for young readers who want a proper story, real characters and situations without being harrowed and where there is the warmth of optimism. This is the author's debut and to be highly commended: a new voice to welcome." - Books for Keeps Also by S. E. Durrant: Runnng on Empty Talking to the Moon

The Absolute Beginners Guide: Stitching Beaded Jewelry is the introduction to bead stitching. This book helps beginners to have a successful start in stitching by answering questions like “What are the must-have supplies and tools?” and “How do I set up my workspace?” The projects introduce basic stitches starting with the easiest, such as cross-weave and right-angle weave, and moving into other more challenging techniques. Your confidence and skill set will grow as you work through the book, one project at a time.