Little Robot

by Ben Hatke
136 pages / 2015

This is one of those little-girl-meets-little-robot, little-girl-loses-little-robot, little-girl-kicks-some-big-robot-tushy-to-save-little-robot stories. What sets it apart from all the others is that the first 26 pages are entirely wordless, and there isn’t much talking the rest of the way either.

The little girl, it turns out, is quite the amateur mechanic, so when she comes across an abandoned box and discovers a robot inside, she sets out to get it running. And she gets a little frightened when it does come to “life.” This little girl is also quite lonely, so once she overcomes her fear, she becomes convinced this is going to be her new friend.

However (insert ominious music here) she isn’t the only one interested in the little robot! His manufacturer has noticed he’s missing, and has sent a big bad robot on a search and recover mission. And this thing is massive – a semi-truck-sized beast that looks like it could eat trees!

When it swallows the little robot, it’s up to the girl, and some other new-found robot friends, to outwit the big robot bully and free her little buddy.

Cautions

At one point the big bad robot also swallows a poor defenceless kitty, but never fear, the fuzzball isn’t chewed up – it’s just inside, waiting to be rescued.

The only other caution would be the notion of robots as people. Kids’ stories have all sorts of anthropomorphism – cats can have hats, rabbits have swords, and trees might even walk – so is it a big deal if robots get this treatment too? No, unless kids get too much of it. No one believes cats, rabbits, or trees could actually become people, but they are saying that about robots today. The world misunderstands mankind as simply “meat robots,” and from there, it isn’t much of a leap to think robots could one day become “metal people.” But we are more than our meat – we are body and soul, and no amount of hardware or software will ever engraft a soul into a robot. And that’s a point that might be worth sharing with our kids.

Conclusion

The protagonist of the story usually gives you a good gauge of the target audience, and as this one is a little girl, girls would certainly be among those interested. But it’s also got robots, and robots hunting robots, which will appeal to the boys. And as a mostly wordless comic, it will also have some appeal for early readers.

It has a bit of tension, which could be a bit much for some in Grade 1, but for most in Grades 1 through 5, this will be a real treat.