A picture book written and published in Geelong made it to the world stage this week, being shared with children in London as part of World Book Day.
Hugh and Sam Kingsley’s book Archie the Robot was chosen by the London STEM Ambassador Hub for a live read on World Book Day on Thursday, with the story shared to classrooms across the UK.
Hugh said it was pleasing to see the story being shared around the world.
“It’s wonderful that our book was chosen for the live reading because it means the story is being shared and it was deemed to be of a high-enough standard,” he said.
“That’s amazing for this little book that was mostly written in the car during lockdown and made here in Geelong.”
He said the story used a robot to introduce young children to coding.
“Coding is essentially the literacy of the 21st century,” Hugh said.
“The sooner we feel comfortable with coding, the better it is going to be for us.
“But coding is not just about writing code, we also spend a lot of time fixing code, which is what Archie the Robot introduces children to.”
Hugh said the book linked in with the key elements of the early years’ curriculum, including inclusion, self-discovery and diversity.
The book was illustrated by Simon ‘Chippa’ Chiovitti, who was known for his street art around Geelong.
