By Jason R. Briggs
A patient, hands-on introduction to writing real Python code, building up to your child programming their own games.
This is where a computer-obsessed child crosses over into typing real, professional code. Python is a genuine programming language used by grown-up software engineers, and this book teaches it from absolute zero: how to install it, how to make it print a word, then variables, loops, functions, and drawing on the screen, each idea explained slowly with a little cartoon guide and lots of small examples to try. It builds toward two full games your child writes themselves. It's a real programming manual, just written to be understood by a beginner rather than an expert.
If your child has outgrown drag-and-block coding and wants the real thing, this is the top of the shelf. It doesn't water Python down, it just paces it, so a motivated ten-to-thirteen-year-old can actually follow it and end up writing programs that run. It rewards patience and stamina, the child who likes to work at something over weeks and see it pay off, and it hands them a skill that keeps going long after the book, because Python is used everywhere. This is the one that turns an interest into an actual ability.