I am a Bug
You’ve had to explain and justify your job to Management, to Human Resources, and to everyone at your high school reunion. But now comes the ultimate test: Your child’s assignment for the next show-and-tell is to describe what her mom or dad does for a living. You scramble for an easy way to explain (maybe for the first time) what you do at the office, but your software testing reference books just don’t have enough pictures of cute animals to really do the trick. This book might be just what you’re looking for.
Review By: Alyn Wambeke, STQE magazine
03/01/2010
Have you ever tried to explain your software career to a six-year-old? While exploding satellite launch software might hold their attention for a few minutes, defending Function Points versus Lines of Code will probably be a surefire way to lose your audience.
Software tester Robert Sabourin has tried to bridge that information gap with his children’s book I am a Bug, and he makes his mission clear in the book’s title page. “This,” he writes, “is a picture book for Mommies and Daddies who help make Computer Software. We hope you have fun explaining your job as you read with your children!” Illustrated by his twelve-year-old daughter Catherine, the self-published book was clearly a kick for Sabourin to put together. Its approach is unique--as its two-tiered text simultaneously targets two very different audiences. Along the top of each page, in big friendly letters, is a simple narrative about bugs and bug zappers, aimed at preschoolers. Beneath each page’s childlike drawings runs the second story, a sixth-grade-level explanation of software QA and bug hunting. That parallel approach is what makes I am a Bug an amiable show-and-tell--and, at the same time, a little hit-and-miss.
Editors Note: For a more detailed look at I am a Bug, see a longer article on the book by Alyn.
User Comments
I find the book fantastic, because it is so simple...
I find the book so fantastic that I write de Portuguese Version of that with the RobSab permission, off course.
So, if somebody wants to have one, call me by e-mail [email protected]