[LM_NET] Robot Dreams - Graphic Novel Review

[Christine Rayl <cjrayl@YAHOO.COM>]

Varon, Sara. 2007. Robot dreams. New York: First Second – Roaring Brook Press.

Grades 2 – 6

This unusual wordless graphic novel is a quiet, gentle book about friendship and 
loss, two subjects that anyone, at any age can relate to. The artwork is comprised 
of muted colors and soothing lines that move the reader gently from front cover to 
back. While it may seem simplistic in appearance and artwork it becomes apparent 
that this book is more than what one would think. Because it is wordless, the 
reader must look closely at expressions, setting, and interactions to pull out the 
story, a story that has multiple layers of complexity.

The story is spread out over one year, a year where a friendship is born but is 
lost and the reader is left confused as to why. One character, the dog, walks away 
from his friend, the robot, leaving him abandoned on the beach after the robot 
rusts and cannot get up. He lies there all winter, having ‘robot dreams’ of his 
friend as well as meeting new friends, such as a bird that builds its nest in the 
robot’s arm. Sadly, one would hope that a friendship is not something that you 
walk away from but that you work hard to maintain and hold but that is not evident 
in this book. At a time when there is talk about character development and 
developing empathy for others in today’s youth, I am surprised that this story is 
not stronger at expressing the loyalty that use to be assumed in regards to 
friendships. 

The book is enjoyable and since it is without words, students will feel comfortable 
reading it, not realizing that they must infer, predict, and draw conclusions using 
only the visual cues of the artwork and their personal background knowledge. One 
interesting item of note, whenever the characters have a question or needs to do 
something, they go to the library for a book and the cover of the book is the clue 
the reader can use to figure out what they are doing next. I think that is a very 
nice touch. 

It is a book that I have purchased for our library as I feel it is a nice contrast 
to the other graphic novels that we have. I know that the students will be drawn to 
the simple yet touching artwork and hopefully we can have a lot of discussions 
about friendship.

Christine Rayl, Librarian
Bowie Elementary School
Grand Prairie ISD, TX

cjrayl@yahoo.com
Book reviews: http://childrens-bookspot.blogspot.com/



      

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