The Wild Robot

Particularly loved the music in the first 30/last 30 mins of the audio. The narrator did a fantastic job with the voices, especially notable for her deepening and fleshing out Brightbill's voice as he got older. Like that Brown didn't go for the nearly-tied-up ending. Pure, sweet, feel good loveliness. Would like to see the pictures in the actual book, especially as that's what Brown's known for.

From my kids perspective (I read it to my 4yo son), it has memorable character, a fun story, and a heartwarming message.

From an my perspective, It was a fun little story. I wasn’t a fan of the descriptive violence or usage of “rifles”, but again it’s meant for kids a little older than mine and it wasn’t out of place in the theme. I also didn’t like the repetitious pattern of 3 used throughout, it felt awkward when reading it aloud.

Aww, this was very sweet and also compelling? Like...Hatchet + Charlotte's Web + a robot? It was such a careful blend of ~nature red in claw and tooth~ but also a helpful community? I could still see it being upsetting for sensitive young readers but it's overall a sweet story. It's interesting portrayal of a disability!

Also I read the ebook version on my Kindle so I missed out on the color illustrations ,but even in b&w they were very cool. (As you would expect from Peter Brown.)

Summary: A new robot is lost, and as attempts to survive, it learns from the animals around it and becomes a “wild robot.”

My son read and enjoyed The Wild Robot last year when he was eight. He is a pretty good reader and likes to read books on his own. I have been interested in reading the book myself since I saw that it was being made into a movie.

This is a classic late elementary book. There are tons of very short chapters, rarely more than a couple of pages each. This makes the book both easy to engage for 3-5th graders to read by themselves and easy to read to them at that age or slightly younger.

I appreciate that this is a book that admits hard things. This book is mostly about a robot trying to understand the world around “her” and about animals. The reality of the wild world is that animals will die. Some will be eaten by others, some will die from elements or accidents. The fact that there is grief and sorrow in that loss is not glossed over.

The Wild Robot is a self-contained book. I am nearly done with the second book, The Wild Robot Escapes. That book builds on the first but is a complete story as well. I will read the third soon.

I have avoided reading any reviews of the movie at this point, so I am not sure if the movie is just the first book or if it is the whole trilogy. But I am going to finish the whole trilogy before I watch it to be sure.

There is a nice gentleness to the books. Most of the plot conflict is based on misunderstanding. I think this is a good model of plot development for this age. Children are seeking to understand. That doesn't mean that I am opposed to “good/evil” stories, but stories rooted in misunderstanding I think help grow empathy and seek to give alternative perspectives which should be part of a children's book diet.

Based on what I have read so far, I really do think this is an excellent addition to the middle elementary literature.

I read this on Kindle because I saw it on sale, but I think it likely would be a good audiobook as well. I listened to the 5 minute preview and that short excerpt was pretty good. I read it in two sittings, but I wouldn't expect most kids to read it that quickly.


This was originally published on my blog at https://bookwi.se/the-wild-robot-by-peter-brown/

I'm a big Peter Brown fan so this may be biased, but I saw this in the new books at the library and snagged it up. I started it and then went on vacation (strict rules- NO library materials on vacation) so...it has to wait until I returned.
Here's the deal. It's awesome. It reminded me of when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and I was OBSESSED with EB White. It feels like that. There is an overall plot, but each chapter is a wee story in itself. I was entranced at the logical way Roz went about becoming one with the island and it's inhabitants (who were NOT easy to win over).Even though there is a great deal of charm in this story, it is very realistic-with death and accidents and nature. Just like in an EB White story which, for me, always blended the fantastic with the realistic as well as the happy with the sad.

Time will determine if this becomes a new classic. It has the chops. I hope it finds the right audience. I plan to put it into the hands of teachers.