Congratulations to the Winner of our Florence the Data Scientist Sweepstakes

To celebrate National Math Awareness Month, our team at Domino Data Lab recently published the world’s first-ever children’s book about data science, Florence the Data Scientist and Her Magical Bookmobile. We also offered readers of the book the opportunity to win a laptop and $5,000 towards college. We’re excited to announce that William Braton, a fifth-grader at Pottsville Middle School in Pottsville, Arkansas is the winner of our sweepstakes!

William had the privilege of reading the book and learning about the sweepstakes from his school’s librarian, Melissa Moudy.

“Not only has this made my son happy, it has made him more confident about himself and his dreams,” said William’s mother Christina Zinnell. “Everyone at his school is so proud of him!”

Zinnell added that while William enjoyed the book, he especially liked how the book’s main character used science to get what she wanted.

Florence the Data Scientist and Her Magical Bookmobile centers around a curious child named Beatrice. When a mysterious bookmobile drives down her street, Beatrice is intrigued by the individual behind the wheel. The driver, Florence, is a librarian-of-sorts who knows exactly which books will delight each kid in the neighborhood.

As the book unfolds, Beatrice is forced to decide whether there’s such a thing as “magic” or if this “librarian” knows something the rest of the world doesn’t. Beatrice spends the day recording and analyzing each of her friends’ responses to Florence’s questions, and discovering and falling in love with the predictive power of data science.

“Some people might think she cheated but she didn’t,” said William. “She used her skills and observed the other kids’ outcome to find a pattern so she could get exactly what she wanted. That’s not cheating, that’s data science.”

Additionally, William remarked he liked how the animals in the book come to life. He also thought the book did a great job explaining how to use data science in everyday life.

“William wants to be a veterinarian,” said Zinnell. “He not only wants to keep animals —domestic and wildlife— healthy and safe, he also wants to build a bridge between animals and the community.”

William added that having data science skills can help him develop better longer-lasting solutions to improve animal welfare.

“I know Pottsville Middle School will be proud of him also,” said Zissel. “Especially Ms. Moudy, his librarian, who strives in helping her students succeed.”

“I hope the college fund we’re able to offer William helps him to follow his passion,” said Ryan Kelly, author of Florence the Data Scientist and Her Magical Bookmobile. “In the same way it inspired him, I hope the book can also enrich the dreams of many other children, and get them passionate about problem-solving, so they can continue to make this world a better place.”

Data scientists harness the power of data from the past to build models that predict what may happen in the future. They thoroughly record data using notebooks, tables and graphs, then use their math and reasoning skills to look for patterns.

Curious about helping a child learn how recording and analyzing data for patterns can help make predictions about the future? Join Beatrice as she finds out by downloading a copy of the e-book or ordering a hard copy from Amazon.