What a beautiful and honest story. Thank you for sharing it. 
You said you’re “not so smart” and “just lucky”, but reading your journey – learning Fortran from your dad’s book at nine, debugging on graph paper without even a computer, then later teaching yourself Basic, C, and still coding for yourself after all these years – that’s not luck. That’s curiosity. And curiosity is the smartest thing there is.
I especially love what you said: “The simple concepts of programming are simple. A kid can do it if they are interested.”
That’s exactly the spirit I hoped for when writing this book. Not forcing, not “you must learn Rust because it’s the future”. Just: here’s a story, here’s a friendly crab, here’s a puzzle – try it if it makes you curious. If not, that’s fine too.
Your story also reminds me that the hard parts are hard. Even people with degrees struggle. And that’s okay. The “dark corners are fractal” – I’m going to remember that. It’s both comforting and humbling.
Thank you for being part of this little project, and for taking the time to write this. It means more than you know. 
Wishing you many more years of coding for yourself – with or without a computer, on paper or screen.
Keep being curious.
Jafar (huvaxstra)
I really appreciate you coming back to clarify. You’re absolutely right that some abstract concepts become easier for kids later, during puberty and beyond. That’s a very thoughtful point. I don’t think anyone expects a 9‑year‑old to fully grok lifetimes or async – that’s why those parts are marked for older readers (and even then, just as an introduction). The younger chapters (
) stay firmly in the “concrete, playful, let’s just make things work” zone.
And thank you for sharing that MS‑DOS story! Oh man, the sweaty hours trying to recover data without knowing the right tool… I think every self‑taught programmer has at least one story like that. 
It’s funny how those struggles stick with you, sometimes even more than the successes.
It makes me happy that this book – a tiny Rust book for kids – could bring back such memories for you. You’re proof that curiosity and stubborn tinkering beat any “natural talent”.
Thanks again for being part of this conversation. Your voice means a lot here.
Wishing you many more peaceful hours of coding (and maybe fewer sweaty data recovery sessions).
I did say I gave up. The way I remember is the book had some diagrams like flow charts to explain and the fortran to go with it.. The fortran part I couldn't quite get. Just the concepts of programing and basic output.
I can't claim to have come up with that. That is a quote from one the programing wizards of the past. I read a lot of programming stuff. Problem is I can't remember who said it and I can't find it by searching. Ritchie? Damn google is broken by AI and doesn't find things like it used to.
Major update: rewritten chapters 1–12, appendices, and a bonus async chapter
Hello again everyone,
First of all – thank you so much for all the thoughtful feedback you gave me a few weeks ago on the first 8 chapters. 
I went back to the drawing board and rewrote chapters 1–10 completely, applied the same style to chapters 11–12, and also added two new optional pieces.
All of this is now .
github.com/huvaxstra/land-of-rust/
What changed (based on your feedback)
- Parent/educator sidebars in every chapter – plain‑English explanation of the concept + link to the official Rust book.
- “Normalizing complexity” notes – friendly reminders that hard topics (ownership, lifetimes) are okay to struggle with.
- Repositioned messaging – from “first programming language” to “become a computer wizard who understands how computers work under the hood” (thank you @marlez).
- Strengthened metaphors – a consistent “Toy Town” world for ownership, borrowing, and lifetimes.
- All code examples and illustration prompts preserved – only the explanations improved.
What’s included now
- Chapters 1–12 (Beginner + Intermediate levels)
- Teacher’s Guide (v2.0) – updated with new tips and a “how to help a stuck child” section
- Appendix A – The Story of Colored Stickers (Lifetimes deep dive) – moved out of Chapter 10, as several of you suggested.
Bonus Chapter – Ferris’s Pearl Farm (Async programming made simple) – inspired by a beautiful metaphor from the very first GitHub issue.
Where I’d still love your eyes
- Parent/educator sidebars – do they feel helpful or too technical?
- Normalizing complexity notes – encouraging, not discouraging?
- Ownership metaphor (Toy Town) – does it work for ages 9‑11?
- Bonus async chapter – is it accessible for motivated 15+ readers?
If you have time to skim even one or two chapters, I’d be extremely grateful.
You can open an issue directly on the branch, comment here, or email me.
Thank you again for making this project better. Ferris says hi.
/Jafar (huvaxstra)
Your link is 404, maybe you changed your branch name to "major-revision-may-2026" without updating the link?
I have to disagree.
I'm 'the kid' (now in mid 70's) that built my first vacuum tube based radio at 4 yrs old. Of course everyone declared me to be a 'genius' but I guarantee you that if I was 'required' to learn a bunch of electroinc theory and algebraic formulas before embarking on that project I very likely would have lost interest in electronics all together.
So don't under estimate a child's sense of wonder and ability to learn when truly engaged.
The idea of a 'Rust Book for Kids' is a great idea, or it isn't. Learning Rust sans all the C family languages 'baggage' is not something I see people having done.
Regardless, the book idea is IMO something that needs to be tested in the real world, on real kids. Regardless of what we 'oldsters' think about it one way or the other.
So I say "Yes do it!"
I'm looking forward to its completion.
Hi @gihrig
Thank you so much for sharing your story — it really touched me.
You're absolutely right: forcing theory before curiosity is a sure way to kill the spark. I actually learned that the hard way.
This book didn't start as a "project". It started as a small experiment with a group of kids (ages 7–12) in my neighborhood. I just sat with them, showed them Ferris the crab, and asked: "What if we could talk to computers using stories?"
Their reactions were… surprising. A 9-year-old grasped ownership faster than I expected — not by memorizing rules, but by playing with actual toys and acting out "who holds the tractor". A 7-year-old struggled with loops at first, but when we turned it into a "repeat-after-me" game with claps, it clicked.
That's when I realized: the concepts aren't too hard. The presentation is matter.
You actually confirm what I said. Better to start with something more appropriate for learners than having to deal with the most complex notions directly, or children very likely risk to find it daunting and give up on programming altogether.