COMPUTE!’s Kids and the Commodore 64 by Edward H. Carlson, illustrated by Paul D. Trap, is a revised 1984 beginner’s guide that teaches children—especially ages 10 to 14—how to program the Commodore 64 in BASIC through 33 short, illustrated lessons. It starts with the basics of using the computer, entering and running programs, screen colors, keyboard commands, variables, input, loops, conditionals, random numbers, and saving to disk, then builds toward more creative topics such as graphics, sound effects, string handling, action games, music, arrays, sprites, user-friendly programs, and debugging. The book is structured for self-study or classroom use, with notes for parents and teachers, exercises, review questions, assignments, answers, a glossary, error-message explanations, and indexes, making it both a programming course and a hands-on path for kids to create their own games, school tools, and simple applications.