Bitty Bot

It's time to power down in Botsville, and robots everywhere are packing it in, but not Bitty Bot. Little Bitty Bot springs into action, gets his power tools, builds a spaceship, zooms to the moon, and joins a festive celebration there before growing tired and blasting back to Botsville just in time for a quick snooze and a new day. The brief rhyming text moves quickly with plenty of action words (banging, clanging, zooming, vrooming) before finally winding down. The digital illustrations in a retro style parents, at least, might be reminded of The Jetsons feature a large cast of characters and ample background details in angular and chunky shapes, which can sometimes crowd the pages. A few less-populated scenes are interspersed to give some relief from the frenetic activity, although bold colors, which further enhance the retro feel, completely fill each page. While this might be too exciting to power down young ones, it's a lively fantasy that will make for a fun read-aloud.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2016 Booklist

What happens when robots wind down? Do they actually sleep?Yep, they do, according to this charmer with a mechanical twist. Told in jaunty, rollicking rhymes that are enlivened by colorful, humorous digital illustrations, this robot version of a bedtime story demonstrates that, no matter how energetic a little bot may be, there inevitably comes a time when batteries are running low! Filled with personality, Bitty is one imaginative, enterprisingand not tireddroid, first building a nifty spaceship, then rocketing to the moon and, in comical scenes reminiscent of the iconic cantina in the first Star Wars movie, cavorting in a rousing lunar dance-a-thon. The final scene shows Bitty buildingwho knows what, but this bot is clearly ready for another out-of-this-world adventure. Readers will have already seen, though, that sleep must inevitably follow a day of raucous activity. Vocabulary-enriching rhymes scan well, making this a fine read-aloud choice. The lively, action-filled illustrations with their retro look feature smiling, mostly gender-neutral robots of myriad colors, body shapes, and sizes, bearing varied whirring accoutrements. Young audiences will also chuckle at illustrations depicting young bots clutching favorite sleepy-time must-have toysin one case, a tiny human. Young techies may or may not want to zoom into bed right after listening, but theyll be more than a little bitty ready for repeat readings. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.