BEGINNERS' BASIC. Lear, Peter. Burlington (Ont.), Hayes Publishing, c1984, 64pp, paper, $5.95, ISBN 0-88625-075-7. (Getting Ahead Computer Books) SPACE ADVENTURES FOR THE COMMODORE 64. Lear, Peter. Burlington (Ont.), Hayes Publishing, c1984. 5lpp, paper, $5.95, ISBN 0-88625-066-8. (Getting Ahead Computer Books) Grades 5-8 Reviewed by W.F. Benson Volume 13 Number 5 1985 September Hayes Publishing has brought out an excellent series of computer books. The books are aimed at the ten to fifteen year-old age group and are very effective in instructing the students and keeping their level of interest high. They are well thought out and designed. The books are fairly short, fifty to seventy pages long, but pack a lot of information into their pages. They use colours very effectively to separate the different ideas on the page and to capture and concentrate the reader's attention. The diagrams are good, relevant, and help to accentuate the well-spaced pages. They present lots of examples for each concept discussed and give simple tests, answers given upside down on the page, for the more difficult ideas. The author breaks up the lessons every five to ten pages by throwing in a fun-filled game to illustrate what he has been teaching and to give some relaxation. There is a complete table of contents at the beginning, a good glossary of computer terms at the end, and an adequate conversion chart to explain how to change programs from one form of Basic to another. The Commodore adventure book, while lacking the glossary and conversion tables, offers an excellent section on how to design games and explains why the games included were designed as they were. The only negative comment I can make about the books is that I think Beginners' Basic is a little too ambitious an endeavour. It would have been slightly more effective if they had not tried to cover quite so many different types of Basic. The end result is that one could end up doing a lot of trouble shooting, depending on the type of computer one owns. In summation, an excellent series that I would recommend for all people with computers and for all libraries. It is great to see such quality in the sea of computer books presently being published. W.F. Benson, Alexander Park P.S., Golden, B.C.