No comments about Exploring Logo Without a Computer.

No comments about Turtle Talk: A Beginner's Book of Logo (Let's Read and Find Out Science Series).

No comments about Approaching Precalculus Mathematics Discretely: Explorations in a Computer Environment.

No comments about Advanced Logo: A Language for Learning (Computer Science for the Behavioral Sciences).

No comments about Logoworks: Challenging Programs in Logo (Byte books).

No comments about Computer Science Logo Style 2/e, Vol. 3: Beyond Programming.

No comments about Computer Science Logo Style 2/e, Vol. 2: Advanced Techniques.

No comments about Investigations in Algebra: An Approach to Using Logo.

2 comments about Computer Science Logo Style 2/e, Vol. 1: Symbolic Computing.

1. I'm giving this book "4.5 STARS". It looses half a star because of the title -- sure, its accurate, but its also boring. Who but a college or university student would buy a book about ... COMPUTER SCIENCE, ugh! (which is probably why there hasn't been a review on this book(s) any sooner)

   This book is about having FUN learning how to program (with a special language). Kick off your shoes, grab a java, turn on some background music or watch a hockey game on TV out of the corner of your eye and "have at it" -- have some fun learning to program. Just DON'T call it Computer Science! (even though it is).

   The truth is these books cut through the tedium of learning something like C++ or Assembly and gets you into "programming stuff" a lot sooner. Everything you learn with LOGO can be directly applied to other languages anyway. And that's what, ahh, er, the Science of Computer Programming is about.

   The author has a very casual yet informative style of writing. Sort of like having a having a buddy sitting next to you offering some laid-back advise--only this buddy is knowledgeable and helpful.

   What do you learn? Well, I'm not going to use the C.S. words--let me simply say you learn important principles of programming using the LOGO computer language on some projects. Yeah, that's LOGO not LEGO. It's a powerful computer language derived from Lisp...and used, among other things, in robotics, and AI.

   Okay, so you've figured out that I'm pretty keen on this series of books (vol1,2,3). After you get into LOGO for a while you're even going to ask yourself why LOGO isn't more popular, why isn't if utilized more in learning institutions. Probably because it isn't as politically correct. Surely Assembly, and C++, etc.,are necessary evils, but they're not fast and slick in terms of the learning curve required to get you producing applications and understanding computer concepts. Bottom Line: Don't underestimate LOGO! And if you want to learn, CXXXXXXX SXXXXXX, (scratch that)--if you want to have FUN learning how to program, check out these books!

   You can find a "Table of Contents" at the authors website if your interested. Put in its simplest form, Volume 1 deals mainly with learning the LOGO language with some projects. Volume 2 is about projects and extending the LOGO language. Volume 3, well, with this volume it's fair to use the words Computer Science as the focus of the text. Personally, give me Volume 1 & 2, and another 2, and another 2, etc. IOW's I have no hesitation in recommending that you own vol 1 & 2 straight away. Vol 3..., maybe. Not because it isn't well written, ...its just more specialized.




2. Brian Harvey shows us that Logo is not a programming language "for kids". This misconception is erased with his books, showing that computer programming with Logo can be fun, relatively easy, and yet as powerful (or even more) than with other more popular computer programming languages.

5 comments about The Great Logo Adventure: Discovering Logo on and Off the Computer.

1. This is the only book I have found that attempts to communicate programming (the "traditional" text based kind of programming) to elementary age children. If anyone reading this review knows of another, please contact me!

   The book works after a fashion, with liberal corrections and advice from a highly available mentor. The parent/teacher must be a programmer to have any hope of guiding the elementary student through the various errors and omissions. Be careful of handing this book unsupervised to your child! It is full of questionable advice such as "draw on your computer screen with erasable marker", and references to files on the CD ROM that are in different directory, etc.




2. I'm going to assume that anyone reading this review will want to know two things: What is Logo? How well is this book written? I'll start by saying that IMO this is the best book out there which teaches basic computer programming skills--and it just happens to be in the Logo language. (age appropriateness: kids somewhere between elementary and junior high)It comes with a CD and has LOGO software on it for Windows/Dos/Mac/etc.

   I have a couple of young kids and I wanted to teach some computer programming to them. I'd love to teach them some assembly and C++ but those languages are complex and huge. I figured they'd become bored -- get mired down in the rules and regulations of the language without experiencing the fun of programming. What LOGO does so well is get people programming without getting bogged down by the language. I have to add that I was under the misconception that LOGO was a whimpy-kiddie language...sure,great for teaching programming to kids, but shallow and limited. I mean, not too many universities preach LOGO, right! But LOGO is robust and extremely versatile in its own right. Go ahead, build robots, weather stations, etc.,...it makes doing these kinds of projects inviting and fun. You might misplace the TV in the house for a while!

   Lastly, if you want to start with a little more advanced LOGO (maybe you have a background in a comp lang already-ie. BASIC, your in HS or older)then turn to Brian Harvey's "Excellent Adventure"

   (wink, wink)--"Computer Science Logo Style-2nd ed"--vol 1,2,3. This series does for the older student what J. Muller does for the younger. I'm rating "The Great Logo Adventure" 4.5 stars--I don't give 5 stars because I believe there is always room for improvement; but darn if I know what to improve.




3. This book is well written and the material easily accessible. My son was writing short programs in less than an hour. My one critique is that the book description claims that book includes PC and Mac software; while it does, the Mac is nowhere near as capable as the PC. The book alludes to this, but the book and Mac software do not jibe. We had to find other materials and still, the Mac software only allows for one turtle. Again, the material is well-presented, just somewhat misleading for Mac users.



4. I bought this for my fourth grade son who normally hates all school work. There is math, geometry, and logical thinking skills taught in this book. He loved it because he could do things right away and didn't have to plow through lots of boring difficult reading to get there.



5. I am hoping to use this book to as resource material to lead an after-school program at the local elementary school. I was looking on Amazon to see whether it would be affordable to purchase as the curriculum. It appears to be currently out of print (April 2006).
   
   However, this book seems to have been made freely available for download by the author. Amazon review guidelines prohibit URLs, but if you search for a free educational version of Logo, you'll probably find one by a company called Softronix. The links are on their MSWLogo page.