The series continues to entertain with sweet, gentle humor.
Two robot buddies express gratitude for their friendship in three amusing vignettes.
Having established their more-human-than-robot buddy bona fides in Even Robots Aren’t Perfect! (2022), Red Robot and Blue Robot are back for three more short stories, presented in comic book–style panels with speech bubbles. The second volume finds the pair in their cozy home suddenly terrified of an (imaginary) robot-eating monster in “Bump in the Night”; dealing with a misunderstanding with Purple Robot in “Sorting Bolts”; and discussing how lonely they would feel without each other in “The Train Trip.” Through it all, the two robots frequently express admiration for each other and thankfulness for the friendship they share. As in the previous book, Thomas differentiates the two cleverly. Blue Robot is taller, with a block head, while Red Robot looks more like a fire hydrant. The two wobble and whimper, grin, and celebrate with a great range of expressions and emotions over tiny misunderstandings that get blown up with big feelings. The gratitude lessons are never overdone or preachy, with each story playing out like a short comedic playlet with a happy ending rather than an earnest lecture. If there’s something lost from not having one continuous story, it’s made up for by the sheer charm of Red Robot and Blue Robot. There’s lots of pleasure to be had spending time with them. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The series continues to entertain with sweet, gentle humor. (Picture book. 1-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-167-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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