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.