SWITCHES & PEEPS

Reluctant at first, a cat makes friends with the family’s new robot in this children’s novel.

Peeps, a fluffy white cat, notices her owner, Max, whose tan skin is a shade between his darker father and paler mother, opening a cardboard box. A new fort to play in! But what that box contains is a “ready-to-program Buddy Bot Y2K robot brain,” which Max attaches to a robot body constructed from spare TV and car parts. When Switches, as he’s named, clomps into Peeps’ life, she’s suspicious and resentful, not knowing what to make of his fluency in cat language. He’s a showoff, capturing her family’s attention, and besides, he stomps her cardboard fort. Switches, meanwhile, believes he’s made a new friend. Peeps decides to get back at the robot, so she takes advantage of his trusting nature to get him in trouble and locked in the garage. Peeps, realizing she doesn’t want to be mean, deliberately misbehaves so she can join Switches in garage exile and apologize. In the end, the two become friends. Giles, who has also written and illustrated the Fitting Out series of children’s books, subtly addresses children’s mixed feelings about newcomers to the family with understanding and humor. Peeps’ point of view provides some wonderfully comic moments, as with her ever-so-helpful routine that includes sleeping on freshly laundered clothes: “Her family would certainly be grateful for any cat hairs she left behind. After all, they did not have much hair of their own.” Giles’ whimsical illustrations add expression to the nonhuman characters; Peeps, for example, can be pleased, skeptical, or peeved. The drawings also contribute risible commentary, like when Switches and Max both draw Peeps with very different skill.

A funny, sweet-natured tale about getting along despite differences.