#378 - The Little Handbook of Cool Technology
by Shalini Satish & Raam Baranidharan and illustrated by Nishi Banka
“The Little Handbook of Cool Technology” by Shalini Satish & Raam Baranidharan and illustrated by Nishi Banka. Published by Harper Collins. A book that is extremely relevant and necessary for children to get an understanding of the technology that they see and use day in and day out.
The book presents the concepts behind some of the technologies that the children of today have already used or experienced. The fundamentals are explained in a simple to understand manner through a conversation between two curious children called Alia and Copa. Alia explains the working behind each of the technologies to Copa who wants to know how they work. Interesting trivia have also been given at several places in the book.
The book has six chapters on the topics of internet, search engine, internet of things, extended reality, artificial intelligence and cyber safety. An attempt to break down these complex concepts and make them understandable to the children through simple text with apt examples has been made. The illustrations also help in cementing the concepts. Relevant activities have been given at the end of each chapter which make it enjoyable for the child. Read the book with your child to help them understand better what they may already be using or exposed to.
My 8.5 year old son and I enjoyed reading the book. While some things were already known to him, it helped him in knowing how they work and made his understanding of the concept better. He was happy to have found such a book which answered many of the questions that he had in mind. He was keen to know more about the new things that he wasn’t aware of. Initially I was apprehensive about the book when I saw the number of pages (111 to be precise) and was wondering if a non fiction book like this would manage to hold his attention. This despite him being highly interested and curious about anything to do with computers and devices in general. But all my doubts were laid to rest as we started reading. It was fun to understand the topics and then do the activities. One of our favourite activities was to view the internet highways online. My son was amused to know about the Trojan Horse and why it is called so :)
In today’s day and age technology is omnipresent and it is inevitable that we all and more so our children will be exposed to it. Given that, it is a must that we embrace technology. Even those who were skeptical of this, have had to do it in the recent past due to the pandemic. While we may not prefer it always, gadgets have a significant presence in our lives and children are attracted towards them. What we can try is to help them understand the nuances of each of these technologies that are behind the gadgets so that they can use it in a responsible manner and get benefitted. This can happen if the concepts are demystified through books like these. This is the first book from a series called “Young Techie Series”. The series looks very promising and we are now curious to know what is coming up next! :)
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 7 and above.
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Harper Collins, for review. Thank you to the author, Raam, for arranging to send across the book!