LEO the Maker Prince: Journeys in 3D Printing is a book about robots that are also 3D printers.
The book follows a journey by author Carla Diana and LEO through Brooklyn, where LEO is a walking, talking robot who has the magical ability to 3D print any object that Carla draws. LEO also has other robot friends that also have unique capabilities, such as H1-H0 who prints in metal, Sinclair-10 who can find and print objects from a huge catalog of designs, and IRIS-7 and NiXie who have other unusual talents to inspire readers.
"This book is a fun and informative introduction to 3D printing," commented Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. "As a former teacher, I loved the concept of showcasing 3D printing's capabilities with hands-on 3D printing projects for kids, which are sprinkled throughout the book."
Carla Diana has unique add-ons to make the 3D printing even more entertaining for kids, such as adding in rice in the inside of a 3D print as part of the infill to make it a shaker musical instrument, or how adding a software script that allows people to use code to generate forms based on algorithms, helps create mathematical spirals such as the ones one character creates for jewelry she designs in the book.
"I am fascinated with 3D printing and all it can do," Diana said. "I truly believe that our children today need to be embracing the technology, to play with it, experiment with it, and build with it, so that they will be well-versed in 3D printing and all of the benefits of design, engineering, and architecture that comes with it. Embracing this technology now will only help children as they grow up to be better prepared to tackle exciting careers in technology as adults."