2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Coding
Coding and STEM have been buzzwords for a few years now as many people push for kids to learn more about technology, especially now that AI has become more prevalent in day-to-day life. What I really enjoy is that basic coding really isn’t that difficult as a computer must follow rules set by the coder to follow. These books are a great starting point for kids and teens to begin learning the basics of coding across a number of computer languages and platforms. And with resources that are kid-focused like Minecraft and Scratch, coding has never been easier to dive into!
This is a great list of titles for kids who love to play video games who are either looking for ways to create their own game or for caregivers to encourage and even more active approach to using technology by learning how it works on the inside. While most of the titles on this list are focused on coding, I also tried to grab a few more general informational titles as well. Because technology is evolving so quickly, make sure to do some of your own research to find the most up-to-date content!
2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Coding
Code Your Own Games!: 20 Games to Create with Scratch by Max Wainewright
Learn how to code your very own computer games using Scratch software. With easy-to-follow, illustrated step-by-step instructions, create all types of popular games from Snake and Brick Bouncer to driving and action games. Code Your Own Games introduces key coding concepts through simple and practical tasks – from drawing shapes and giving instructions in code to building games and much more! Each chapter progresses in difficulty, yet instructions and explanations are always easy to understand.
Coding Concepts for Kids: Learn to Code Without a Computer by Randy Lynn
Coding helps kids develop analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and beyond! In this exciting guide to coding for kids, your child will discover the core concepts of coding through colorful games and activities―without using a computer.
These fun challenges can be done right inside the book or with everyday objects to help kids practice the same skills coders use, like writing clear instructions, recognizing patterns, and working efficiently. There’s even a place for your beginner to invent their own codes!
Coding for Kids: Python: Learn to Code with 50 Awesome Games and Activities by Adrienne B. Tacke
Learning to code isn’t as hard as it sounds―you just have to get started! Coding for Kids: Python starts kids off right with 50 fun, interactive activities that teach them the basics of the Python programming language. From learning the essential building blocks of programming to creating their very own games, kids will progress through unique lessons packed with helpful examples―and a little silliness!
Kids will follow along by starting to code (and debug their code) step by step, seeing the results of their coding in real time. Activities at the end of each chapter help test their new knowledge by combining multiple concepts. For young programmers who really want to show off their creativity, there are extra tricky challenges to tackle after each chapter. All kids need to get started is a computer and this book.
Coding for Minecrafters: Unofficial Adventures for Kids Learning Computer Code by Ian Garland
This fun and educational activity book Introduces kids to the world of coding through the Minecraft world they love. Colorfully illustrated characters and themes from their favorite video game bring the excitement of coding to life, while easy-to-follow screenshots guide them through activities. With adventures that include design, music, animation, gaming, and more, learners will discover tons of ways coding connects to other activities they love and how far a little imagination and invention can take them…to The End and beyond!
Coding with Scratch – Create Awesome Platform Games by Max Wainewright
Coding with Scratch – Create Awesome Platform Games shows kids how to create amazing platform games with Scratch. They will learn how to:
- Use code to make a series of games where sprites leap from platform to platform.
- Design different levels, draw graphics, and make simple animations.
- Use variables to keep the score and to simulate gravity in games.
- Make code blocks and functions.
- Add sound to bring games to life.
Starting with an introduction about how Scratch works, this book is suitable for beginners but with lots of tips, challenges, and extensions for experienced Scratch coders.
Computer Science for Curious Kids: An Illustrated Introduction to Software Programming, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber-Security―and More! by Chris Oxlade, illustrated by Nik Neves
Our world is full of computers, from simple calculators to the smartphones that keep the internet at our fingertips. This entertaining guide traces the history of these scientific developments and how modern computer systems function today, covering AI, coding, robotics and much more! Big new concepts pop off the page, thanks to vibrant diagrams and an engaging, energetic prose style. Kids will relish sharing them with friends and family!
Everything You Need to Ace Computer Science and Coding in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide
The Big Fat Notebook series is built on a simple and irresistible conceit—borrowing the notes from the smartest kid in class. Each book in the series meets Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and state history standards, and are vetted by National and State Teacher of the Year Award–winning teachers. They make learning fun and are the perfect next step for every kid who grew up on Brain Quest.
Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani
Since 2012, the organization Girls Who Code has taught computing skills to and inspired over 40,000 girls across America. Now its founder, and author Brave Not Perfect, Reshma Saujani, wants to inspire you to be a girl who codes! Bursting with dynamic artwork, down-to-earth explanations of coding principles, and real-life stories of girls and women working at places like Pixar and NASA, this graphically animated book shows what a huge role computer science plays in our lives and how much fun it can be.
No matter your interest—sports, the arts, baking, student government, social justice—coding can help you do what you love and make your dreams come true. Whether you’re a girl who’s never coded before, a girl who codes, or a parent raising one, this entertaining book, printed in bold two-color and featuring art on every page, will have you itching to create your own apps, games, and robots to make the world a better place.
How to Be a Coder: Learn to Think like a Coder with Fun Activities, then Code in Scratch 3.0 Online by Kiki Prottsman
Each of the fun craft activities included in this book will teach you about a key concept of computer programming and can be done completely offline. Then you can put your skills into practice by trying out the simple programs provided in the online, child-friendly computer language Scratch.
This crafty coding book breaks down the principles of coding into bite-sized chunks that will get you thinking like a computer scientist in no time. Learn about loops by making a friendship bracelet, find out about programming by planning a scavenger hunt, and discover how functions work with paper fortune tellers. Children can then use their new knowledge to code for real by following the clear instructions to build programs in Scratch 3.0.
Perfect for kids aged 7-9, the various STEAM activities will help teach children the crucial skills of logical thinking that will give them a head-start for when they begin programming on a computer. Famous scientist pages teach children about coding pioneers, such as Alan Turing and Katherine Johnson, and topic pages, such as the Internet, give kids a wider understanding of the subject.
How to Explain Coding to a Grown-Up by Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Teresa Martinez
Grown-ups do NOT have all the answers! In this tongue-in-cheek guide, an in-the-know narrator instructs perceptive kid readers in the fine art of explaining coding to a grown-up. Both children and their adults learn the basics of coding, including hardware, software, algorithms, and debugging. Cleverly disguised “pro tips” suggest best practices for teaching any topic.
My First Coding Book by Kiki Prottsman
It’s never too early to learn computer coding! With innovative, interactive paper engineering, My First Coding Book is a playful, hands-on introduction to offline coding and programming that will give children ages 5 to 7 a head start. Filled with puzzles, mazes, and games to teach the basic concepts of sequences, algorithms, and debugging, this book will help children develop critical thinking, logic, and other skills to cement lifelong computer literacy.
With its unique approach and colorful and creative imagery, My First Coding Book makes learning and fun one and the same and will have children playing their way to programming proficiency.
Supporting STEM and STEAM education initiatives, computer coding teaches kids how to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically, and is quickly becoming a necessary and sought-after skill. DK’s computer coding for kids books are full of fun exercises with step-by-step guidance, making them the perfect introductory tools for building vital skills in computer programming.
STEM Starters for Kids Artificial Intelligence Activity Book: Activities about Computers, AI, and Machine Learning by Sam Hutchinson, illustrated by Ste Johnson
Future AI experts will love the mix of non-fiction and activities in this educational book full of BIG ideas. Fun games and puzzles teach kids about about:
- Arrow AI
- General AI
- Machine learning
- Decision trees
- Inputs
- Outputs
- And so much more
Kids will learn facts about technology and its modern advances, all alongside engage and fun full-color illustrations. Start a lifelong passion for artificial intelligence!
2025 is my tenth year participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge! This year, I chose as my theme: Fact Finders Club: Nonfiction for Curious Kids with a focus on providing book lists focused on all types of nonfiction books for readers from birth to teens. Each letter of the alphabet will focus on different topics and will provide twelve titles on each list. Nonfiction is having a heyday in children’s literature and if you think it’s dry and boring, then I implore you to take a look at these amazing suggestions! Stop by daily to check out the new books and other posts that I’ll be sharing in April.
