BOOKS

Little Bot and Sparrow

by Jake PARKER
illus. by Jake Parker. 40p. Roaring Brook. Sept. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781626723672.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 2—When a motherly Sparrow sees a discarded Robot, a friendship begins. In the spring, Sparrow teaches Robot how to have fun outside. In the summer, she shows him how to be curious (but safe). And before she has to fly south in the fall, she teaches him how to live without her. The warm illustrations capture the beauty of the changing seasons, during the day and the night, and the power of friendship. At the end of the tale, Robot is seen doing two things he thought impossible—dreaming and flying—all made possible because of Sparrow. The differences between a metallic robot and a feathery sparrow show friendships can happen between any two individuals.
VERDICT A sweet additional purchase for friendship storytimes.
Reviewed by Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta., Canada
After a robot "thrown out with the garbage" meets a sparrow, they become friends. The robot shadows her; when he asks why she sleeps, she says, "To rest and to dream." The story is heavy-handedly allegorical--after the sparrow flies south for the winter, the robot learns to dream--but it's also alluringly tender, unfolding as seasons delicately, discreetly change.
, Oct 01, 2016

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