When I wrote Lauren Ipsum, a children's book about computer science, I used the real words for everything. Words are random anyway so you might as use the ones everyone else does. There are a few puns, eg "Hugh Rustic" teaches heuristics, "Eponymous Bach" names everything after herself, and "Xor" is a colorblind chameleon. I also included a species of animal called the Jargon who constantly spout computer jargon. They are cute in small numbers but will run you over if you let them.

My favorite comment was from a mom who'd read it with her six-year-old. Weeks later she was storing her luggage, putting the smaller ones into bigger ones. The kid piped up and said, "Mommy, that's recursion!".

Kids are smart. It's astonishing what kids can do if you don't tell them it's too hard.