NOVA'S ARK

Kirk (Miss Spider's New Car, 1997, etc.) pens an incidental story--undeveloped, sentimental window-dressing--for brash metallic 3-D illustrations that may leave readers cold. Nova, a young and restless robot, enjoys making robotic animals inspired by his prized possession and ancient family heirloom, a wooden toy ark and its bestiary; he dreams of being with his father, Taspett, an intergalactic explorer in search of crystals to supply his planet's energy. One day Nova hijacks a spaceship, only to crash it on a distant planet. There he builds a bestiary of his own from the broken parts of his ship, including a trumpeting beacon that attracts his father, who also crashes on the planet Taspett expires, but Nova restores him with donated parts, including an elephant's trunk, dog's tail, and a crucial heart valve from Nova himself. They discover crystals critical to their planet's survival, and return home heroes. It's sentimental, long, and boring; readers will spend more time looking at the pictures than listening to the story, then they'll simply move on.