Learn to Program with Scratch by Majed Marji

Summary: Really good reference for Scratch

I have started my Scratch experience with Super Scratch Programming Adventure! book and my first reaction to reading Learn to Program with Scratch was like I wanted to reject this one and not to read it at all. The point here is that Super Scratch is made with better taste when it comes to graphics and is better suited for kids. But, don’t be fooled by the layout. Learn to Program with Scratch is equally good. In fact, it is much better reference to Scratch language. It simply targets different group of people. While Super Scratch Programming Adventure! is focused more on kids at age 6-9, I’d say that this one targets kids between 11-16 as well as teachers. If you want to teach Scratch, this one will be much better pick for you as it covers the langue in more systematic way.

On the other hand, when it comes to kids, it requires more reading (and reading is, oh so borring) and more systematic approach to learning – and that’s also boring ;) But for me, this one is much better place to look at when I want to find some information regarding Scratch.

Let me just show you the sample. Below, you can find the game made in half an hour after reading first chapter of the book. Let’s be honest, this is really cool that you can develop game after reading like 10 to 15 pages of text.

The trampoline code is quite simple – all it has to do is to react on mouse position change.

Button is responsible for triggering all the sprites on the scene when it is pressed (it uses messages to achieve that).

And the key “player” here is the ball. It is responsible for flying around and determining whether it should bounce or stop the game (when you fail to catch it with trampoline).

The organization of the book is similar to any other programming language manual. You can find here sections describing all the elements of the language, with samples and explanation of how to use them. You can find lots of tutorials, however, they might be hard to follow sometimes. There is also a quite comprehensive index to make your life easier when you are looking for some particular stuff.

In my opinion, this one is best fit for you if you are either a teacher or you are at high school/middle school. But for sure, I’d advice to buy it if you want to get gentle introduction to Scratch.

Product page:

O’Reilly (print): Learn to Program with Scratch
O’Reilly (e-book): Learn to Program with Scratch
Safari Books Online: Learn to Program with Scratch