by Peter Brown
for Little Lightning Bugs
What happens when a robot designed to help people activates on a wild island? Let’s find out!
Read if you like: Middle grade, robots, nature, sci-fi, adventure, slice of life narration, found family, tales of perseverance and kindness, understanding differences, emotional intelligence.
Roz wakes up for the first time and finds that she is in a strange place. There is no one for her to help but the animals; and they want nothing to do with a metal monster. What is she supposed to do? How will she survive?
The Wild Robot was not what I was expecting. It was sweeter, more human and more endearing than I imagined it would be. Yes, we have a very high-tech and adaptable robot learning to live on a remote island. Yes, Roz has adventures and struggles figuring out how to interact with the animals. But what we also get is a wonderful story of perseverance and kindness that has you falling in love with a fancy computer with legs. You get to experience the process of learning and curiosity that leads the least likely of beings learning to feel.
The plot doesn’t have a direct storyline. It is more episodic, almost like a narrative journal that gives me “Wall-E” and “My Side of the Mountain” mash-up vibes. Ultimately, we have an increasingly sentient robot also learning to live off the land.
So, if you’re looking for an action-packed plot that doesn’t let up until the end, this is not the book for you. However, if the idea ‘that every day is an adventure, some are big and some are small, and the experience is what is important’ appeals to you. Then this book is a delightfully meandering adventure in the life of a wild robot.
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