Unplugged

November 27, 2017
Blip is a wide-eyed, square-headed robot who is plugged into her computer 24/7. The large screen gives her everything she needs: “Blip learned new things, played fun games, danced to music, and visited faraway places,” writes Antony (Thank You, Mr. Panda), showing the cheery robot standing on her head as she watches a pixelated workout video, singing along with a pixelated duck, and admiring a pixelated landscape. Then the power goes out, and Blip tumbles down the stairs and into the analog world. It’s a revelation. Before the blackout, Blip lived in a flat world rendered in graphite gray; outside, the world is full of shapes and colors—there’s nothing flat or pixelated about it. A rabbit, a fawn, and a duck welcome Blip into their circle, and she discovers that everything she did on the computer is much more fun in real life with real friends. Antony’s digital-age parable avoids turning heavy-handed—his characters are so cheery, carefree, and congenial that readers will quickly forget that they’re being taught a lesson. Ages 3– 5.

December 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 1-Through soft, black-and-white graphite-accented illustrations, readers are introduced to Blip, a small robot, who likes being plugged into her computer. Blip spends all day learning new things, playing games, listening to music, and visiting faraway places online. Until one day when Blip trips over her wire and tumbles all the way downstairs and out the front door. Suddenly, the pages change to warm, full-color spreads, and Blip topples, rolls, and drifts across grassy hills, forests, and a long, winding river. Outside, Blip also spends her day learning new things, playing games, dancing to music, and visiting faraway places with cozy, new woodland friends. However, the inviting pencil drawings with digitally added colors and textures capture the magic, innocence, and joy of outside play, and contrast highly with the black-and-white computer-play pages. When Blip finally gets back home to her computer, she can't stop thinking about "how great it was...to be...unplugged." VERDICT A visually entertaining story with an underlying message to get outside and play. Perfect for reading aloud and for good old-fashioned one-on-one sharing.-Brianne Colombo, Fairfield Free Public Library, NJ

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2017
Blip, a boxy little robot, loves plugging herself into her computer all day long. Her cord connects her to a big screen that offers learning apps, blinking games, catchy music, and even pictures of lush landscapes. When a blackout and a tumble down the stairs somersault Blip out the front door, she's suddenly in the gauzy light of the natural world. The small robot reels. Inside Blip's house it's dark--just stark blacks and whites. Outside, soft, spring pigments paint grassy hills, curvy tree trunks, scattered flowers, furry creatures, and a winding, sky-blue stream. Flipping back, readers might notice that Blip's daily computer activity is depicted in vignettes that move incrementally across the page in linear rows, with square pixels assembling to generate crude computer-screen visuals. Blip's dramatic immersion into the varied, curvy, colorful outdoors nudges readers to compare the two settings. Blip's real-life play mirrors her virtual-play activities, except it now burbles with immediacy, spontaneity, and interactive fun with new, adorable animal friends (a wide-eyed bunny and baby-faced duck). Will Blip plug back in at the end of the day? Readers may doubt it, as they've decided to stay unplugged a little more themselves. A gentle catalyst for crucial conversations about balancing digital diversions with real-life play as well as an introduction to self-guided critical thinking. (Picture book. 3-6)

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