Robot in Love

February 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-An adorable tale of love at first sight. The narrator, a dapper, bow-tie wearing robot, spots a striking stranger and is instantly smitten. Too shy to speak to her, the robot starts to malfunction and even has trouble entering sleep mode. Alas, the robot musters the courage and seeks out his shiny lady. Spoiler Alert: The robot's shiny love interest is a toaster, and McBeth's endpaper hearts morph into pieces of toast in illustrative perfection. The robot is an incredibly likable character. Additionally, its eyes have heart-shaped pupils when talking about his love, which add to his charm. The story itself is silly and chuckle-worthy. Big pink-laden pages contrast the black-and-silver robot, making the lively images pop. There is plenty of robot vocabulary, some of which might challenge some young readers, but the story and layout are easy to follow, and provide clues as to the robot's love interest for the keen eye. Older readers will appreciate small, humorous details, such as the robot snoring in binary code or its meeting with the toaster on Electric Avenue. VERDICT A super-fun, sweet, and fast read-aloud for fans of robots, love, and toast.-Kaitlin Malixi, Kensington Health Sciences Academy, Philadelphia

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2018
McBeth's author/illustrator debut is an unlikely love story.Robot's routine day--unplug, eat a slice of bread, leave when its wristwatch beeps--is interrupted when it sees her on Electric Avenue (yes, really). While readers aren't privy to her identity until the end, they do get clues: She's shiny, their connection is "electric," and their meeting spot seems to be a store window. Meanwhile, bowtie-and-business-suit-clad Robot's life is changed forever. It has hearts for pupils, it doesn't watch where it's going, it sniffs flowers and jumps in puddles (not recommended for robots), its "hydraulic limbs felt weak." It spends an evening making her some flowers out of old metal parts, but she's gone from their meeting place. Its robotic systems fail to detect her anywhere (though readers will laugh at the language used to describe this: "scanning...negative"). But then it gets an idea and runs back to the store, this time going inside, where it finds its own true love. Sure, she doesn't say a word and people give them strange looks, but Robot doesn't seem to care. "We have so much in common. We're both shy. We're both shiny. // We both love toast." The black, white, gray, pink, and red artwork is angular and stylized, suiting the high-tech subject matter, and McBeth has found a way to give a metal robot a heart and feelings through body language and facial expressions.A love story that's anything but robotic. (Picture book. 4-8)

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September 15, 2018
Preschool-G Dressed in a tux and red bow tie, Robot begins his day in his usual fashion?unplugging from his nightly charge, munching a slice of bread, and heading out into the world. But as he walks down Electric Avenue, everything changes. He spots someone so beautiful and shiny that he can't get her out of his head. McBeth intentionally keeps her identity hidden for a comical reveal later in the story, focusing instead on Robot's reactions, which hit on the clich�s of being in love, in a way designed to get kids giggling. He stops to smell a flower?on a woman's hat; he joyfully leaps into a puddle and momentarily short circuits. The next day, he sees her again and, with hearts in his eyes, attests, My circuit board nearly jumped out of my chest unit. When he finally musters the courage to approach her, she's gone, and a panicked search ensues. Endearing and rendered exclusively in black, white, and red, Robot's cartoonish love story ends with a happily-ever-after that will send kids' laugh functions into overdrive.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)