It’s a happy and familiar story: Boy meets bot, boy befriends bot…they become best pals, rescue each other from peril, and live happily, chasing adventure ever after.
Simple though it may sound, this theme has been spun into some great books for boys at all reading levels. Read more…Boys and their bots
Title: A Boy and His Bot
Author: Daniel H. Wilson
Narrator: David Ackroyd
Length: 4h 40m
Format: Audiobook
Age group: 10+
Code Lightyear is a shy young Cherokee boy. At school, he keeps his head down and tries to avoid the taunts of bullies. Rather than standing up for himself, Code prefers to concentrate on doodling robot designs. He also misses his beloved grandfather, who disappeared on a visit to Mek Mound, the hilly site of an ancient, Native American civilization.
On a field-trip to this hallowed place, Code wanders off from his classmates only to stumble through a portal into Mekhos, a bizarre and dangerous land populated entirely by robots. Read more…Audiobook review: A Boy and His Bot
Title: Big Hero 6 Junior Novelization (Disney’s Big Hero 6)
Author: Irene Trimble
Narrator: MacLeod Andrews
Length: 2h 18m
Format: Audiobook
Age group: 8+
Fourteen-year old Hiro Hamada is brilliant but wastes all his time hustling at ‘bot fights in dark alleys instead of focusing on his future. He worships Tadashi, his older brother, who rescues him from scrapes and encourages him to think bigger. Everything changes when Hiro loses his big brother in a terrible accident at a famous robotics lab where Tadashi was developing a health-care robot named Baymax. Heartbroken, Hiro teams up with Baymax and with 5 of Tadashi’s friends when he realizes that the explosion at the lab may not have been an accident at all.
You may be surprised to hear about Big Hero 6, the audiobook! The movie was of course a huge hit and no doubt your kids, like mine, saw it when it was released. But the audiobook is really well written and read with a beautifully resonant voice by MacLeod Andrews. Read more…Audiobook review: Big Hero 6
Title: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
Author: Dav Pilkey
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Format: Book series (9 books)
Age group: 5+
Poor Squeakyville! This town and its mousey inhabitants seem perpetually on the hit-list of some mad scientist or colony-craving alien. Luckily for Squeakyville, one of its littlest residents – boy-mouse Ricky Ricotta – has teamed up with his best buddy, The Mighty Robot, to hold chaos at bay. From facing down school bullies, to combatting all manner of mutants from around the planetary system, Ricky and his Robot embark on 9, action-packed adventures. Read more…Book review: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
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