Tiny Tales, Big Ideas
Tiny Tales, Big Ideas
Join Prince Abel on a magical quest to bake the perfect birthday cake while discovering how different data types work together in coding.
Buy on AmazonThe Birthday Cake of Type Kingdom whisks young readers into the delightful realm of Prince Abel, who embarks on a quest to bake the perfect birthday cake for Princess Anabel. His adventure leads him to the King of String, the Integer Knights, the Float Mermaids, and the Boolean Wizards—each wielding their own unique “type” of magic. But nothing makes sense until Clara the baker shows him how these special abilities work together—just like different variable and data types in computer science!
Whether you’re a parent eager to ignite your child’s interest in technology, a teacher looking to enhance your classroom resources, or a homeschool family exploring fresh STEM adventures, The Birthday Cake of Type Kingdom is a computer science teacher–approved book that offers a friendly, magical introduction to one of the field’s foundational ideas.
Join Prince Abel as he learns how each type of magic—and each type of data—plays a vital role in creating his perfect birthday surprise!
Grab your copy today and step into a world where data types come to life, teaching valuable lessons about cooperation, creativity, and the power of shared knowledge!
At Tiny Tales, Big Ideas, we believe that accessible stories ignite big imaginations. Owned by a passionate, licensed public school teacher who developed these books for diverse classrooms, our series breaks down complex STEM concepts into fun, relatable narratives. Perfect for students, educators, and families, our books deliver educational magic one tiny tale at a time!
Brian Duryea is a public educator who has introduced thousands of students to the wonders of computer science. Inspired by a need to make complex ideas accessible to all types of learners, Brian developed the Tiny Tales, Big Ideas Computer Science series and incorporates these tales into his own lesson plans to introduce concepts and provide a reference point for learning.
Read-Aloud & Discussion: Read the book aloud to the class and pause at key moments to ask students questions like, 'Why did the Integer Knights only care about whole numbers?' or 'How did the different characters interpret the same message differently?' This encourages critical thinking about data types in a fun way.
Flipped Classroom Challenge: Assign the book as a take-home reading, then have students come to class prepared to explain each group's role (Knights, Mermaids, Wizards, King of String). They can create a mini-presentation or write their own examples of data types in real life.
Craft a 'Kingdom of Data' Poster: Have students create a poster or visual representation of the different data types. They can draw castles, lakes, wizards, and knights to symbolize how computers handle strings, integers, floats, and booleans.
Code Your Own 'Data Kingdom': In a coding class, students can write simple Python programs that categorize input data just like the book’s characters. For example, a program that takes a word and decides if it’s a 'String' like the King of String would accept, or a number like the Integer Knights would use.
In the story, Abel learns that Integer Knights only work with whole numbers (like counting candles), Float Mermaids excel at handling decimals (like measuring flour), Boolean Wizards deal in true/false statements, and the King of String writes words. For beginners in computer science, differentiating between the types of variables can be challenging. But when we understand that computers are only as good as the information we provide—and when they know the purpose of the variable—they become much more efficient.
While designing apps or websites, you might use an integer to track a player’s score, a float for precise measurements, a boolean to decide if the user is logged in, and a string to store a welcome message. Each type has strengths and limitations, so choosing the correct one ensures your program handles data as intended.
At Tiny Tales, Big Ideas, we believe that weaving complex computing concepts into engaging narratives helps students grasp and remember them. Prince Abel and the Secret of Data Types offers a lighthearted journey through one of programming’s foundational ideas: every piece of data has a type, and each type has a role in making our digital world run smoothly. Who knew data types could be so enchanting?
The Birthday Cake of Type Kingdom introduces readers to the concept of variable types. In computer science, a data type defines what kind of information a variable can hold—just like the different characters in the story (Knights, Mermaids, Wizards, and the King of String) who each process the 'Make a Cake!' note in very different ways!