Ada & Zangemann: A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream (Book Reading)

The famous inventor Zangemann lives in a huge villa high above the city. Adults and children alike love his inventions and are desperate to have them. But then something happens: when Zangemann wants to take another close-up look at his inventions during a walk through the city, a child hits him in the shin with the skateboard. That hurts! Enraged, the inventor makes a momentous decision... The clever girl Ada sees through what is going on. Together with her friends, she forges a plan.

This illustrated children's book tells the story of the famous inventor Zangemann and the girl Ada, a curious tinkerer. Ada begins to experiment with hardware and software, and in the process realizes how crucial it is for her and others to control technology. Ada & Zangemann will inspire children's interest in tinkering and encourages shaping technology. https://ada.fsfe.org

"A rousing tale of self-reliance, community, and standing up to bullies." —Cory Doctorow, science fiction author

"Introduces readers young and old to the power and peril of software. Behind it all is a backdrop of ethics of knowledge sharing upon which the arc of human history rides." —Vint Cerf, computer scientist and one of the inventors of the Internet

"What a fun read! I recognize myself in Ada at many moments." —Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director, The Tor Project

Matthias Kirschner is president of FSFE. Matthias helps other organizations, companies, and public administrations to understand how they can benefit from free software -- which gives everybody the rights to use, study, share, and improve software -- and how those rights help to support freedom of speech, press, and privacy. He serves on the advisory boards of different free software organizations, has been a consultant for public bodies and other committees, and regularly gives interviews, lectures, or participates in panel discussions about software freedom and the technical distribution of power in a democratic society.

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