Hi there! My name is Sasha Arya Alston. I’m both a writer and a coder. I wrote a book called “Sasha Savvy Loves to Code” to help kids get excited about coding. Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? It means that sometimes a book’s cover doesn’t show everything about the story inside. But what if we could make a book cover that is fun and interactive, making people eager to read the book?
In the next few lessons, you’ll learn how to code a digital book cover using a tool called Sprite Lab. In Sprite Lab, you can create characters called Sprites. You can change their costumes to look like the main character in your book, and you can even upload your own costumes for them!
This project is really cool because you can make the Sprites interact with each other. When I was choosing the cover for my book “Sasha Savvy Loves to Code,” I worked with an artist to pick the best pictures for my story. If I could code a digital book cover for my book, I would want the math formulas in the background to float around, making it look magical!
A great book cover shows what the book is about and makes people want to read it. I love being creative with my work, and I’m excited to see how creative you can be with your book covers too!
Have fun coding and creating your own amazing book covers!
Create Your Own Book Cover: Use paper, crayons, and markers to design a book cover for your favorite story. Think about what makes the story special and try to show that on your cover. You can draw characters, scenes, or symbols that represent the story. Once you’re done, share your cover with a friend and explain why you chose those images.
Interactive Story Time: With a parent or teacher’s help, use a simple coding tool like Scratch to create a digital scene from your favorite book. Choose a character and make them move or talk. Think about how you can make the scene exciting and engaging, just like a book cover should be!
Book Cover Exploration: Next time you visit a library or bookstore, look at different book covers. What do you notice about the colors, images, and words used? Choose a book cover that you find interesting and discuss with a friend or family member why it caught your attention. What do you think the book is about just by looking at the cover?
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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[Music]
My name is Sasha Arya Alston. I’m a writer and a coder. I wrote the book “Sasha Savvy Loves to Code” to encourage kids to learn more about coding. Have you heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Maybe it’s because a book cover doesn’t tell the whole story. But what if we could create an interactive book cover that gets people more excited to read?
In the next few lessons, you will learn how to code a digital book cover that your friends can interact with in Sprite Lab. These characters are called Sprites, and you can change their costumes to represent the main character in your book. You can even upload your own Sprite costumes!
This project is special because you can make Sprites interact with each other. When I chose my book cover for “Sasha Savvy Loves to Code,” I worked with an illustrator to select the best images for my story. If I could code a digital book cover for my book, I would want the formulas in the background to float around.
Remember, a great book cover helps show what the book is about, so people will want to read it. I love being creative with my work and can’t wait to see how creative you can get with your book covers!
[Music]
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
