No. 96 — Sorting algorithms ⫶ Currently sitting on a pencil case ⫶ Seasonal family logistics shuffle

All sorts

My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

I’m writing this in the middle of seasonal family logistics shuffle - swapping out winter boots, handing down outgrown shirts. Sometimes I feel like organizing things is half of what I do as a parent: sorting laundry, schedules, emotions.. That’s also the theme of the week here.

A lot of people have asked me in the last five years: will there ever be another Hello Ruby book? Right now, I don’t have a new one in the works. But I miss working with paper and the pacing a picture book offers and there is something stirring.

It feels somewhat vulnerable to say it aloud, because picture books take a long time to brew. Years, sometimes. And this one doesn’t yet have a shape or structure, just a moodboard. But in the reader survey’s I was asked to share more work-in-progress, so here goes..

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There’s a book we read almost every week called All Sorts by Pippa Goodhart. It’s beautifully illustrated and full of the sensory detail of the world - plants and toys and cars and people. It’s about a little girl named Frankie who loves to sort things in every way imaginable. The vehicles spread is a favorite in our house.

I think about this book a lot. How comforting it is to bring order to the chaos and how sorting is a natural instinct for children. I watch as my toddler goes through Montessori sorting trays, color-matching games, and tongs & tweezers activities, and I admire how sorting teaches autonomy and logic at a very early age. So that’s one component.

Another ingredient is a book I found while moving. I got アルゴリズム図鑑 by Yoshiki Ishida and Shuichi Miyazaki from my Japanese publisher almost ten years ago. It’s a visual guide to twenty-six different algorithms, designed in a clear, step-by-step manner reminiscent of IKEA instructions.

I think this is what I want to experiment with next: a Hello Ruby book on sorting algorithms and how they map to childhood experiences. Interactive between page turns like the best of Hervé Tullet’s work, maybe with even cut-outs or flaps. And probably with an offline, paper-based component. And I can tell drawing so many things will be a lot of fun - an feeling it’s always useful to navigate towards when starting a project.

A few references on my table right now:

• ALL SORTS by Pippa Goodhart. Beautifully illustrated, tactile and deeply child-centric. Comes with an activity sheet for educators!

• A PAIR OF SOCKS by Stuart J. Murphy. A classic pattern-recognition story.

• PRESS HERE by Hervé Tullet. While not about sorting, the book uses interaction and pattern to convey logic.

• UNDERCOVER: ONE OF THESE THINGS IS ALMOST LIKE OTHERS by Bastien Contraire and Meagan Bennett. Visual invitations to sort and categorize.

• TARO GOMI’S PLAYFUL PUZZLES FOR LITTLE HANDS. Tarō Gomi is a master of categorization, comparison, and organizing the world. I love this book and it was an early reference in the Hello Ruby activities.

• CS UNPLUGGED: SORTING ALGORITHMS. Great resource for teaching sorting algorithms without screens.

Moodboard from the left: Pancake sorting (me!), Gus Gordon ‘George wasn’t like most birds’, Katsumi Komagata, Saturday by Oge Mora, Another by Christian Robinson, Museum of Very Small Things, Atelier pour enfants - de l'atelier "Habille-moi, Montessorisaati, Metaphorical Portraits by Michael Mapes, What’s the pattern (me!), Taro Gomi, All Sorts by Pippa Goodhart

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Linked List

• Hunter computer. I’m reworking my personal website and was so inspired by this description of the website: “It is currently sitting on a pencil case, on the floor of my apartment in Amsterdam.”

• Astrid Lindgren x Ilon Wikland x Jarbnö. Okay, very niche, but I love brand collaborations which are not about plastering a logo/illustration on a shirt. These yarns and knitting models look exactly right, I love little Lotta’s dress and the toy pig pattern especially. Other examples: Roald Dahl x Mini Boden and Rebecca Green x Holbein. Are there other examples I should know of? What’s a name for this type of collaboration?

• “Science fiction is about strange rules, while fantasy is about special people” - Chiang’s Law

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Classroom

Georgian educator Nana Nozadze sent me a lot of delightful images already last summer. In her words:

“I should especially mention that in those schools where there are no computers, where every student does not have a computer, the mentioned activity and exercises allow us to present the issue in an interesting way. They are enthusiastically involved in the activities. I know very well what it means for each student even an ordinary lesson that will end up as an interesting adventure for him; I know very well because I have been teaching computed technologies for 25 years and I have worked in all kinds of classes.”

I’ll share more in upcoming letters, here a small sampling: