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Books still play a major part in the development of children’s understanding of the world, of which new digital technologies are most definitely now a part. We recently wrote about MakerBot’s LEO the Maker Prince kids’ book, which teaches readers about 3D printing, and now Hello Ruby is another title — this time designed to appeal to girls — that hopes to get them inspired by the web and programming.

Created by Linda Liukas, who for the past three years has been teaching programming and encouraging more young women into the field through the Rails Girls nonprofit, the book follows the story of Ruby, who meets penguin, snow leopards and green robots as she creates her own adventures. Although the book has a female protagonist designed to feel inclusive to females — who are lacking in the field — the book is for all genders. Alongside the narrative book is an activity book that lets readers learn the foundational structures of programming through puzzles. The video below explains more about the project:

Hello Ruby raised more than USD 380,000 from its initial Kickstarter target of just USD 10,000, and the hardcover book is now available to pre-order for USD 40, or USD 20 for the ebook. Are there other ways to get kids — and particularly girls — into programming from a young age?