Four robots—red Blink, blue Zinc, green Blip, and yellow Zip—are busy all day long at their respective tasks: cooking, handiwork, gardening, and cleaning. Blink whips up a meal here; Zinc repairs some clocks there. Blip rakes and waters; Zip sweeps up and polishes. Everything hums along as it should until a freak thunderstorm sends rain soaking into the robots’ innards and fries them with lightning. Starry-eyed, they return to their jobs after the clouds clear, but their primary missions have become mixed up: Blink tries to barbecue a birdhouse and Blip digs a hole in a wooden living room floor in which to plant the TV. Confused but undaunted, the robots switch their heads around in an effort to fix their problem.
Bob Staake’s robots “smiling bolt to bolt” are the happiest metal servants this side of The Jetsons. Their bright bodies, distinct shapes, and particular duties make it easy for little readers to tell them apart. I can attest that this is among my 4-year-old’s favorite bedtime stories, and my 2-year-old can’t wait until the head swapping starts. I admire the retro-future vibe, which softens the task of re-reading this book every night.
“What Kids Are Reading” is a regular feature in the Sun, highlighting children’s books available for young readers in Santa Maria. This week’s recommendation was made by Executive Editor Ryan Miller.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2011.
