Zerus and Ona with Miriam Tocino

hansamann

4 months ago

In this episode, I am talking to Miriam Tocino about her children’s book series Zerus and Ona in which she explores the world of computers.

As Miriam writes on her website, she is a mom, software developer and programming teacher dedicated to making computers more approachable, friendly and easy to understand to get children (and parents!) all excited about technology.

Miriam originally studied architecture but once she met her husband, a video game programmer, her life changed. Infected by the colorful and creative side of technology and geeky discussions with her husband, she taught herself to program. Ever since, she’s been working as a software developer, educator, writer, artist and now also as a mom.

She doesn’t want her and other kids to miss the creative and colorful side of technology and therefore created the picture book series Zerus and Ona. They are the two main characters in the series, a zero and one who live inside computers in the so-called Binary World.

Her first book with the title “Zerus gets a Virus” is discussing computer security and computer viruses. Just like humans are affected by viruses, computers can be affected, too. It’s a beautifully illustrated book in which Zerus is getting infected, Ona takes him on a trip and they’ll be looking for a way to cure him.