FIXER THE ROBOT

No good deed goes unpunished. Or, in this case, unflattened in a rockslide.

Selfless robot Fixer tools about the hills in search of robots in need of his repair skills. In a single day he meets up with Dug and his broken spade, Bull and his near-dead battery, and Gertie with her busted gearbox. As he repairs each and every one of them, Fixer sometimes gives up bits and pieces of himself to help them out. Unfortunately, before he can go home to recover, a landslide suddenly bowls him over and inters him down and deep. Fortunately, his friends are no ingrates. Upon noticing their friend’s untimely burial, the three set about using the gifts he gave them in an impromptu rescue. Digital art places Fixer and friends in a sometimes-barren, human-free landscape that feels distinctly out of this world. The gentle rhymes won’t challenge anyone’s tongue, even on a first read. While there is little to distinguish this from the hordes of other helpful-bot books on the shelves, the gentle cycle of one good deed deserving another, alongside plentiful robot action sequences, is sure to please both caregivers and their robot-worshiping offspring.

A simple paean to gratitude for the mechanized and fleshy alike.