Sophie Deen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sophie Deen
Deen in 2017
Education	Law, 2005
Alma mater	University of Sheffield
Known for	Children's books

Sophie Deen is a British author who writes books for children. She is also a leader in teaching young people about coding and STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Sophie is the CEO of a company called Bright Little Labs. This company creates animations, books, games, and toys for kids. Their main goals are to teach important skills for the future, show diverse role models, and help kids learn about being kind to our planet.

Early Life

Sophie Deen went to Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls. After that, she studied Law at the University of Sheffield. She finished her law degree in 2005.

Career

Sophie first worked as a lawyer. But she soon realized she wanted to work with children. So, she became a school counselor, helping kids with their problems.

She then joined Code Club, an organization that teaches coding. At Code Club, Sophie helped bring a new coding plan to schools across the United Kingdom. She worked with Google and the government to do this. In 2014, she became the head of Code Club Pro, where she trained teachers how to teach coding. Sophie noticed that some young people found it hard to get excited about coding.

In 2015, Sophie started her own company, Bright Little Labs. She wanted to make learning to code fun and exciting. She calls this "edutaining" – learning through entertainment. Sophie found that many children's cartoons showed negative ideas about technology. She said that by age eight, kids often think certain things are only for boys or only for girls. Her research also showed that very few characters in kids' cartoons were black.

Bright Little Labs raised money through Kickstarter to create their first project. This project has now reached children in over 30 countries!

Detective Dot

The Kickstarter project led to the children's book, Detective Dot. It was first published in 2016. Detective Dot is a character who works for the Children's Intelligence Agency (CIA). The books invite readers to become "agents" and go on fun missions and investigations.

Dot's challenges are inspired by citizen science. This means they help young people use real-world information and data. Bright Little Labs works with teachers, artists, and writers to make stories that connect to what kids learn in computer science classes. Detective Dot has been listed as one of the best coding toys by newspapers like The Independent and the Evening Standard.

Growth and New Adventures

In 2016, an investment fund called Bethnal Green Ventures invested in Bright Little Labs. This helped the company grow.

In 2017, Sophie gave a TEDx talk called "The robot revolution – a survival guide for kids." She talked about how kids can get ready for a world with more robots and technology.

In 2018, a big media company called Turner International (now WarnerMedia) also invested in Bright Little Labs. They wanted to help the company make more fun and educational content for kids. They believed in making entertainment that also helps kids learn skills for today's world.

Bright Little Labs also created a live activity at Kidzania, London in 2018. Children can go there to develop their spy, computing, and coding skills. They even get to save Kidzania from a computer virus!

Agent Asha Series

In 2020, Walker Books announced they would publish Sophie Deen's new series, Agent Asha. Sophie said that Agent Asha shows kids how to understand the modern world. It features inspiring role models and a high-tech spy agency.

Sophie created the Agent Asha series to make sure everyone can learn about the digital world. She believes coding is a basic skill, like reading and writing. She also noted that coding skills are very important for jobs today. In 2020, Vogue magazine even suggested the Agent Asha Children’s Spy Agency Activity Gift Pack for young adventurers.

Sophie is represented by United Agents.

Published Works

Author of Agent Asha: Shark Bytes

Mission Shark Bytes was published by Walker Books in 2020. It is the first book in the Agent Asha series. The book has illustrations by Anjan Sarkar.

In this story, Asha is a new recruit at the Children's Spy Agency. She uses her coding skills to stop a villain named Shelly Belly. Shelly wants to control the internet by destroying underwater cables with robot sharks! The book is full of spy action, technology, and a race against time.

Shark Bytes has been nominated for several awards, including:

• Shortlisted for Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2021
• Named the Best Coding + STEM Toy by Tech Advisor in 2022
• Included in the UK's Summer Reading Challenge in 2022

Author of Agent Asha: Cyber Chop

Operation Cyber Chop is the second book in the Agent Asha series. It was published by Walker Books in 2022. Priyanka Sachdev did the illustrations, and Elvira Lanzafame created the cover art.

In this book, Asha Joshi is a top coder and spy. She uncovers a plan by a rich tech person to replace real trees with "CyberOaks" in her favorite park. The book mixes STEM ideas into its adventure story. It teaches about computer concepts like algorithms (step-by-step instructions), conditionals (if-then rules), and debugging (finding and fixing errors).

Author of Detective Dot

Detective Dot was published by Bright Little Labs in 2016. It tells the story of Dot, an eight-year-old coder who is very creative. She makes everyday objects come to life in surprising ways.

Dot uses her tech skills and problem-solving abilities to help young readers think about where the things they use every day come from. The story takes readers on a trip around the world. It goes from tea fields in India to Silicon Valley. It shows the stories behind common household items and helps kids understand how connected our world is.

Awards and Recognitions

Sophie Deen has received many awards and honors for her work:

• She was listed in the Computer Weekly Top 50 Most Influential Women in Tech for four years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020).
• She was a finalist for the Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020.
• Bright Little Labs was a finalist for the Tech4Good Diversity Awards in 2019.
• Sophie was named one of the Top 30 changemakers by London Tech Week in 2018. This award celebrates people who use technology to make a positive impact.
• She won the FDM Barclay’s Everywoman Award as Startup Founder of the Year in 2017. This award celebrates women working in technology and STEM.
• The British Interactive Media Association named her one of the top 100 most influential people in the British digital industry in 2017.
• She won the EDF Energy Pulse Award in 2016 for "Inspiring young people into STEM."