"This is, IMHO, an entry point, to give a taste of what programming is, so kids can try themselves later in front of a computer."

- I suspect that this compartmentalized targeting (esp. to younger demographics) really should be explored with other projects...

...Arduino, BSD/Linux/*nix, Py, JS, and so forth.

Those old Usborne programming books were very nicely presented. /Adventure Programs/ http://www.worldcat.org/title/adventure-programs/oclc/104011... and /Fantasy Games/ http://www.worldcat.org/title/fantasy-games/oclc/12824029 had a nice balance between luring you with the game and its setting, and drawing you into how it was implemented as a BASIC program. The high-quality art supported both goals too. (You can see a zipped PDF of /Adventure Games/ here: http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books/pdf/Write_your_own_A... at this site for computer-book abandonware http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books-generic.htm .) Still, there was a big old gulf between reading the colour section describing the program and actually trying to understand the big program listing at the back. /Introduction to Computer Programing/ http://www.worldcat.org/title/introduction-to-computer-progr... is better in that respect, but unlike /Fantasy Games/ and /Adventure Games/ it stopped short of presenting any program as complex as a full interactive simulation.

Oh my goodness. I learnt to code using that book (Adventure Games)! It wasn't the only one, and as you say the big program at the back is somewhat mystical, but I remember it being instrumental in demystifying how a game was put together.