Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Book (and FAQs)

The Computational Fairy Tales book is available (in print and on the Kindle). More details can be found at the book page, including links to the various stores.

The Computational Fairy Tales book includes ~30 rewritten or revised stories from the online collection and 15 all new chapters. Each story serves to illustrate a computational concept, supplementing official instruction or motivating computer science concepts. The stories have also be set up to provide a natural progression both within the computer science concepts and within the fairy tale quest.


A few FAQs:

Q: Is this a print copy of your blog? Why should I buy the book?
A: There are a few significant changes. First, there are fifteen new chapters. Second, the book covers the full tale of Ann's quest to save the kingdom from the darkness. The stories are set up to provide a natural progression both within the computer science concepts and within the fairy tale quest. Third, the stories have been rewritten and edited by a professional editor.

Q: What is the target audience for this book?
A: It is primarily written for junior high to high school students who are interested in computer science (and their teachers). However earlier versions were read and enjoyed by younger readers. It can also be amusing for people who know about computer science, but want to read about it in a different light.

Q: My favorite story is not there! What's the deal?
A: Not all stories fit into the book. In fact, less than half the online stories were used. Some were redundant and some just didn't fit.

Q: Does this mean that the online collection is going away?
A: No. I want these stories to continue to be useful. I plan to leave the current collection of stories online. However, I do not plan on updating them all (I have updated a few). So think of the online versions as very rough first drafts of the final stories.