Review – The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-0316381994
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Wild Robot series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

“When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is–but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island’s unwelcoming animal inhabitants.

As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home–until, one day, the robot’s mysterious past comes back to haunt her.”

This is the first book in the Wild Robot duology and was a cute and thoughtful read about a robot that ends up stranded on an uninhabited (at least by humans) island. As the robot learns more about the animals there she is able to co-exist peacefully with the animals and learn a lot about life and friendship.

This is a very easy read and is intended for a young middle grade audience (younger children would like it as well). I loved the pictures throughout and thought it was a sweet story. It is simply told, but ends up being fairly engaging. I loved the themes around what makes a robot inhuman and around making your own family when you don’t have one.

The illustrations throughout are well done and match the style of the story nicely.

Overall this was very well done and I enjoyed it a lot. I do think it is something younger readers are going to enjoy more than adults. The story is very simple. However, I did enjoy the themes in here and thought the whole thing was very well put together.