Boy and Bot [Hardcover]

Ame Dyckman (Author), Dan Yaccarino (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: April 10, 2012 | Age Range: 2 - 5 years

One day, a boy and a robot meet in the woods. They play. They have fun.

But when Bot gets switched off, Boy thinks he's sick. The usual remedies—applesauce, reading a story—don't help, so Boy tucks the sick Bot in, then falls asleep.

Bot is worried when he powers on and finds his friend powered off. He takes Boy home with him and tries all his remedies: oil, reading an instruction manual. Nothing revives the malfunctioning Boy! Can the Inventor help fix him?

Using the perfect blend of sweetness and humor, this story of an adorable duo will win the hearts of the very youngest readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Is any love greater than that between a boy and his robot? While picking pinecones, a boy meets a bright-red, rocket-shaped robot and asks, “Want to play? “Affirmative!” the robot responds, and the pair has tons of fun until a rock bumps the robot’s power switch off. Not understanding the bot’s unresponsiveness, the boy wheels him home and begins feeding him applesauce, reading him a story, and crafting a makeshift bed. When the boy’s parents, unaware of a robot behind the door, check on their son, the door bumps the robot’s power switch back on. Not distinguishing the boy’s unresponsiveness as sleep, the robot, in a humorous reversal, fears the boy has malfunctioned and carries him back to his laboratory, where he gives him oil and begins to prepare a new battery—when, just in time, the not-evil-at-all inventor shows up to put things right. The spare text (“Boy! You-are-fixed!”) replicates the steady beats of the simple yet comedic story, while Yaccarino’s expressive, quirky, and humorously geometric gouache illustrations make the boy and robot’s relationship all the more endearing. The final, nearly wordless pages, with snapshots of the friends at play, are priceless. Preschool-Grade 1. --Angela Leeper

Review

Starred Review, Booklist, April 1, 2012:
"“The final, nearly wordless pages, with snapshots of the friends at play, are priceless.”

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2012:
“Dyckman’s debut offers pitch-perfect pacing and gentle humor…. as Boy and Bot would say, it’s ‘affirmative’ that this book will be a hit.”

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, February 6, 2012:
“Dyckman’s pared-down prose gives the role-reversal story just enough drama, humor, and robot-inflected dialogue…to keep children entertained for many re-readings.”

Review, The New York Times Book Review (online edition), April 11, 2012:
“It’s a perfectly adorable, age-appropriate friendship. And it’s simply impossible to imagine a 4-year-old boy not wanting to be friends with this book.”

Kids' Indie Next List, Summer 2012

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 2 - 5 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (April 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375867562
• ISBN-13: 978-0375867569
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

More About the Author

Ame Dyckman writes picture books, hula hoops, and puts coins in people's parking meters. She lives in New Jersey with her family and pets: black cats, hermit crabs, fish, and a demanding-but-adorable squirrel named Willie. You can visit Ame at http://www.amedyckman.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming Friendship Story April 16, 2012

By Christopher Ferry

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Boy + Bot is wonderful!
Take a boy and a robot, construct a friendship, add a little misunderstanding, tighten up with the help of the inventor, and voila - Ame Dyckman has built the perfect picture book.
Funny and sweet, you'll want to read this book again and again.
Every child will wish for a friend like Bot!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My son love this book yours will too. April 12, 2012

By Sami Jadran

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Please look inside this book on Amazon and you too will fall in love with this book. It is great for young children age 2 to 8. Not a busy read and pictures are great too. Original story in my opinion. It is a story about a boy who meet bot. They become friends and take care of each other. Boy help Bot when he is turn off, and Bot helps boy when he is sleeping in a process they learn how they are little different. With great story and illusration and awesome color combination any kid would love to read this over and over again. My six and four years old (a boy and a girl) love to read this book. They can't seem to put this book down since I bought it. Ame Dyckman did a wonderful job with original story line and Dan Yaccarino did a awesome job with illustration. Put them together and you get a BOY + BOT! We can't wait to see more stories about BOY AND BOT from Ame and Dan. It soon will become classic!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My boy LOVES this Bot Book December 8, 2012

By M. Simpson

Format:Hardcover

I bought this book for my son's second birthday. We read it several times a day, every day for over a month. The pictures are engaging. The story is simple, yet very endearing. It is a great book to read to young children for 2 very important reasons. First, there is ample opportunity to use fun voices: robot voice, little boy voice and crazy inventor voice. Second, the book is just the right length. None of the pages have too many words on them and the whole thing is over in around five minutes. This means it's okay to read it again (and again) without bedtime or naptime taking too long. I would recommend this book to any family with young children.