Sometimes I Forget You're a Robot

K-Gr 1—With each passing jet or shooting star, a young boy wishes that it were a robot, coming to land in his backyard. One night, a large, red robot begins beeping outside his window. Immediately the boy wants to travel to space or explore the oceans, but the machine cannot do either of these things. It merely repeats its "beep beep." Disgusted, the boy claims the robot isn't real at all and probably can't even help him finish his tree house. But it does, and the boy learns that perceptions can change. While it might have limitations, this robot can become a true friend. Brown's geometric style of artwork offers a childlike interpretation of the objects in the text. The boy, an exaggerated stick figure, lives in a minimal rectangular house with simple pines in the background and five-pointed, misshapen stars in the sky. Colors are vivid, and the text appears handwritten, perpetuating the primary-grade sketchbook quality of the illustrations. While this picture book might be appealing at first, it lacks the charm to sustain multiple readings.—Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH