Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* A small child sneaks out of her house, ready for another day of neighborhood adventures, but she finds an unexpected friend when she crosses paths with a lost robot. Together, they explore the forest, play games, and provide each other with much needed fun and companionship. All appears to be lost when a monstrous metal scout finds the missing robot and returns it to a nearby factory, but both learn that true friends don't give up so easily. This nearly wordless graphic novel delivers a classic friendship story in a nuanced yet lively package that will resonate with young readers. As with previous works, Hatke has created a perfectly balanced story of adventure, danger, and loyalty with charming illustrations that reward careful readers with small details conveying surprising depth. Bright colors and a variety of panel sizes provide extra visual appeal while reflecting the dynamic energy of the well-plotted story. While all these elements combine to make this a fully realized world, especially delightful is the range of emotions portrayed by the wee robot with each new experience. Subtly inventive in both vision and execution, this one begs to be read again and again.--Hayes, Summer Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Hatke (the Zita the Spacegirl books) is in full command of his sweet-tempered sequential storytelling style, with a gift for fusing classic story elements into new creations. His nameless heroine is a curly-haired, brown-skinned girl in a baggy shift dress. Escaping her trailer park and finding her way into a nearby overgrown junkyard, she discovers a shiny robot who's just her size. With expertly paced dueling viewpoints, Hatke draws her introducing the robot to the world, E.T.-style. "You can pet him," she says, handing the robot a cat (it doesn't go well). Simultaneously, the robot management system notes that Little Robot is missing and dispatches a giant seek-and-recover robot to find it. Early on, the girl acquires a tool kit and becomes proficient with it, fixing Little Robot and, later, incapacitating the finder robot and its allies. The action heats up quickly, and readers will race ahead to see what will happen to robot and girl. It's an adventure story, but it's a maker story, too, with a special spotlight on the girl's ingenuity. Ages 6-9. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Once again Hatke delivers a delightful graphic novel with a positive female role-model, fun non-humans, and a message of friendship. When a brown-skinned cherubic girl chances upon a robot that looks like a trash can, she finds a friend worth protecting. Each day they explore the junkyard and the surrounding forest, with the little girl acting as a guide to new sights and concepts. Both love playing together, but when the robot wants to leave, things go downhill. It is up to this resourceful girl to save him from the bad bots of the factory. With her trusty wrench in hand, she repairs parts, builds traps, and fixes hearts. Like the characters in the movie Wall-E, these robots have a limited range of facial expressions, so they "speak" and emote in sound effects. Changes in font size, punctuation, and position play just as large a role in comprehension as body language and composition. It's Hatke's skill in communicating the narrative and emotional complexities through visual cues that makes this such a strong offering. Though the girl and her bot start their journeys separately and in silence, by the end, music and friends surround them. Young readers, and those new to graphica, will find the easy-to-follow illustrations, large borderless panels, and steady pace welcoming. VERDICT A pleasantly colorful adventure of discovery and friendship. Highly recommended.-Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ontario, Canada © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A double-page, full-bleed illustration depicts a starlit highway in an industrial town. An inset frame focuses the readers attention on a truck. The truck hits a rock, the back door slides open, and a box falls out, bouncing until it lands (SPLOOSH!) in the river. A young girl then mirrors the boxs trajectory, wriggling out of the window of her trailer home, bouncing off the oil tank under the window, and landing dizzily on the ground. Wearing only a long white T-shirt, the little girl runs barefoot out of the trailer park, passing children getting on a school bus, and slips into the woods. There she finds a tool belt and a mysterious, very soggy box. Inside is an adorably uncoordinated robot, just the right height and temperament to be a companion. Unfortunately for the two of them and their burgeoning friendship, the warehouse notices that unit 00012 is missing, and a large, menacing robot with one red eye is sent to reclaim it. Unframed panel illustrations lend an expansive quality to this lively, mostly wordless graphic novel for younger readers. The absence of defined frames allows the watercolor to bleed out into the plentiful white space between panels, giving the girl and the robot space to move and even allowing the characters and dialogue to break the pattern in organic ways. And the roundedness of the frames corners, paired with the robots cylindrical body and the (brown-skinned) girls oval face, relieve the tension and add a sense of comfort for young readers. Well-plotted and -paced, this engaging story of loneliness, bravery, and friendship builds to a satisfying and sweet conclusion. sin gaetano (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Possibilities abound for a small, brown-skinned girl with time, a tool belt, and a penchant for urban adventure. From the imaginative creator of Zita the Spacegirl comes this techy take on a warm friendship born in a junkyard. The short, round-faced protagonist escapes from a window of her trailer home clad only in a white nightshirt and heads for a neighbor's swingset, then to the junkyardher daily routine, apparently. Unfettered and unsupervised by adults (or other humans), the protagonist dons her tool belt and soon discovers a little broken blue robot that has lost its way. Never at a loss for how to fix any machine, she tinkers with the robot, and suddenly, she has a running buddy. Together, they explore frogs, cats, sunsets, and more. But when the factory misses Little Robot and sends a large, scary-looking yellow robot to retrieve it, the main character needs more than a wrench to save her new friend and friendship. This delightful, nearly wordless graphic novel portrays a kid with gumption enough to take on big business and smarts enough to advise the factory's fix-it robot on repairs even though she just might be too young for kindergarten. Despite having little material means and few human connections, this kid creates life in the inanimate and fosters community where none could exist before. Girl power at its best. A sure winner! (Graphic novel. 3-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
