Snowbots

November 1, 2010
Combining two of kids' favorite things—snow and robots—Reynolds's highly inventive story features a robot family preparing for school ("Brush off fenders,/ shine and clean./ Cereal with gasoline"), only to discover that it's a snow day. Barneda's imaginative acrylics and colored pencil illustrations depict robots making snow angels, sledding, and eventually being frozen by "a crushing wind-chill factor" into ice cubes, to be towed home by their loving parents ("Robot kids? Refrigerated./ Robot parents? ACTIVATED!"). Reynolds creates a robot world ordinary enough that readers should easily relate, and the poetic form allows for some creative rhymes and details ("Surprises in the scenery/ send shocks to their machinery"). After warming up, the robot children are tucked into bed with a loving good night "Eskimo kiss on metal nose." Ages 5–8. (Oct.)
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October 1, 2010
When Clackentown wakes up to a "blizzard for the record books," school is canceled and all the little bots rush out to play, "remote control completely lost." The dry humor in Reynolds's rhyming verse comes out in both vocabulary (the robot children brush "fenders" instead of hair, the wind's "like a robot trash compactor") and situation (the kids make ice sculptures "thanks, in part, / to chainsaw hands," to warm up after their day of play they drink "cocoa spiked with axle grease"). Barneda provides a cast of mechanical characters in a variety of models; in addition to the chainsaw hands, some kids have caterpillar treads instead of feet, and the dog rolls on little wheels (though it's too bad the only identified girl is depicted, oh-so-predictably, as pink). This gearhead flight of fancy should have broad appeal. (Picture book. 3-6)

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November 1, 2010

PreS-Gr 1-It's a snow day and for the robot children, sledding, snow angels, and snowball fights are all on tap. Some of them stay out too long and freeze into ice cubes, only to be rescued by "metallic moms/and dads of chrome" who warm them up with "cocoa spiked with axle grease" and hot oil baths. Using bouncy rhyming text and a sure ear for machine talk, Reynolds will delight young robot fans with references to wiping sleep "rust" from eyes; eating cereal with gasoline, and losing remote controls. The acrylic and colored pencil artwork features an array of mechanical kids and household props and plug-ins. The cool, blue-tinged snow scenes contrast with the warm yellows and browns of the house interiors. Libraries with robot fans won't want to pass on this snowy fun.-Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI

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