3D Game Programming for Kids: Create Interactive Worlds with JavaScript

I have been looking for good materials to teach a beginning JavaScript class to middle and high school kids, and I was so thrilled to come across this book. The book did not disappoint, and the accompany discussion forum and involvement of the author makes it even better. As the other reviewers note, going with a free, browser-based editing environment is a big win, making it really easy and accessible for students of all backgrounds.The author writes in a conversational, approachable and engaging way, introducing the programming concepts, geometry, and math that readers apply in building the various projects. The chapters are short but meaningful, encouraging all the kids to get at least all the basics down, then challenging them to take off from there.I'm planning to get the book for all the kids so they can have a reference to work through at their own pace to accompany the projects we do in class. While I had found some interactive lessons for practicing with JavaScript (like http://www.crunchzilla.com/), I hadn't seen a curriculum like this that can be a great foundation -- I know the kids are going to love it!

3D Game Programming for Kids is an excellent introduction to creating games for kids of all ages. It introduces a number of ideas and capabilities in a gentle, yet engaging way, and really empowers the child to explore this extremely interesting field. The associated online tools are simply fantastic, and in my opinion, provide the best part of the experience, where the child can try out ideas and experiment in a safe and powerful environment.I only wish that the book (which was published in 2013) was updated to take advantage of the incredible pace of change that has occurred with WebGL and Three.js. It is quite a bit more powerful and flexible than it was four years ago, and many features that would really simplify and expand the childs exploration are simply missing in the older version. A new edition of this book would be extremely welcome!

AWESOME BOOK! My son LOVES IT!!I purchased this book (after choosing btwn 4 others) and am SO HAPPY with my purchase. The thing I love MOST is that there isn't a ton of unnecessary reading. It just jumps right in and the person using the book gets to learn by DOING from moment ONE! My 6th grade son absolutely LOVES doing all the "projects!" It's challenging but not TOO challenging.We use this for my son's "elective class." He is really into video games and wants to design them when he grows up, so he chose computer programming as his elective during home school this year. We couldn't be MORE happy than we are with this particular book!Even though it was a more expensive book than some others I was looking at (about $25)...it is WELL worth the money!!! I highly recommend this book!!

I'm very grateful to have stumbled upon this book which has introduced me and my HS Game Design students to the world of three.js. We have followed and replicated the examples and even written our own code using the projects as a guide. The code is easy to follow and well explained. Students are able to branch off and create their own characters using the ICE browser as they learn. You've made my job easy and fun with such a fantastic book. I've memorized most of it!

I bought this to learn with my baby brother (who is 14) over Google hangout. So far it's going well and he is maintaining interest!

These is an awesome book for getting kids started with programming. My son is so excited each time he gets the opportunity to work on his programming. He is 7 1/2 and his teachers at his school are amazed at how knowledgeable he is with programming syntax and terminologies. If your child loves playing video games, then get him/her to learn how to actual build a video game. This book will give them the basics that they need. You too will be amazed at how much your child will gain from this book!

We bought this book, largely because it got great reviews. However, we couldn't get the very first problem to work. As best as I could tell it was an issue with the Ice text editor the book requires you to use. (Ice Text Editor was put out by that bastion of new technology....the New York Times.) Only problem is, there's just about zero help or support if you run into an issue. Save your $25 and sign your kids up for codecademy or something else of that ilk because the book doesn't even really seem geared towards kids. Not exactly a fun Christmas day for my 9 year old who can write a little HTML and CSS and was excited to get this book.

Based on the reviews here we purchased this book for my seventh grader and found to our dismay that the author's approach was unsuitable for us. The author teaches code the way he learned how back in the day; like a kid just starting out on an old Commodore 64, people using this book are expected to type in lines of code without understanding what they are doing to create a complete program. The learning comes later, when they've typed in enough code to start noticing patterns and gotten comfortable enough to work with code creatively. At least, this is what happens if you attempt to work through the book chapter by chapter. People who are comfortable coding without understanding, and playing around with code to figure out how it works, will do fine with this approach. Others who might appreciate knowing the big picture, or a step-step approach with explanations, would be better served by a different book.