Recent Reads: The Wild Robot

I am eagerly awaiting the publication of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. 

I have read the ARC of The Wild Robot and love it, so why this eagerness to get my hands on the final copy? It is these words, "art to come." I cannot wait to see Peter's art for this book. Luckily, April 5th is not that far away.

The Wild Robot is an incredible story of awakening. It's about finding love and community along the way.  Roz, short for Rozum unit 7134, is a robot stranded on an island after a hurricane sinks the cargo ship on which she was a package. Roz takes in her surroundings and slowly begins to understand and communicate with the wild inhabitants that live on the island. 

Roz encounters a few missteps along the way. She accidentally harms some geese and ends up taking on the care of their goose egg (and the eventual gosling that hatches from it).  As Roz demonstrates her ability to care for her gosling, the animals perspective of her shifts from "monster" to "Roz."  Slowly Roz builds a support network around her new-found family. Robot and gosling take on the role of mother and child and a family is born. Yet it is not a story about humanizing creatures, these are not humans, they are animals and a robot. Brown allows for the natural tendencies of the animals.

The reader will not likely realize how attached he or she has become to Roz, Brightbill, and the island full of Beavers, Bears, Geese, Squirrels and others. It is only when it is threatened that our attachment is evident. The end is striking and violent as the new-found community is ripped apart, but sadness is tinged with hope; hope for for Roz, Brightbill, and the inhabitants of the island. Readers will see themes about the environment and technology. I see other similarities to society as well, with conversations around immigration, non traditional families, and the choices we are sometimes forced to make.

Once this books hits the shelves, I don't expect my copies will stay long on them. Students will love this robot adventure.

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About The Wild Robot

"When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz's only hope is to learn from the island's hostile animal inhabitants. When she tries to care for an orphaned gosling, the other animals finally decide to help, and the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her....

Heartwarming and full of action, Peter Brown's middle-grade debut raises thought-provoking questions about the environment, the role technology plays in our world, and what it means to be alive." ~ from the publisher