October 13, 2014
Tin, a blue robot boy, is assigned to babysit his green kid sister, Nickel. Like their purple mother, the siblings are bucket-torsoed automatons with segmented arms and pincers for hands. Tin doesn't take his responsibility seriously, and when he settles down on a chaise lounge to read comics, family dog Zinc barks for attention. Nickel has climbed a tree to reach a snagged balloon, and before Tin reaches her, she sails away. This helium suspension of a metal bot requires significant suspension of disbelief (why not a wayward jetpack?). Yet if readers overlook this unimaginative development, they'll enjoy Judge's (The Lonely Beast) busy spreads of the city to which Nickel soars. Working in primary- and secondary-hued geometric shapes and layers, Judge pictures a thriving metropolis, a cluttered tickertape parade, and a zoo park. Readers can scan the spaces for Tin and the runaway toddler, who safely reunite at last. The visual puzzle's level of difficulty is more Where's Walrus? than Where's Waldo?, making this a nice diversion for the preschool set. Ages 4â9.
September 1, 2014
Big brother Tin must rescue his wandering little sister. Tin is supposed to watch Nickel, but he is distracted by his comic book. Alerted by his dog, Zinc, he sees her floating away, clutching the string of a red balloon. Unable to reach her from the highest branch of a tall tree, he continues the chase by bicycle all the way to the city. Further adventures ensue with a brave leap from the top of a tall building and a breathless drop when the balloon pops. Enter elephants and giraffes and other safari park animals, and another chase develops as Nickel keeps on moving, to be ultimately rescued and restored to Tin by a park ranger. Watchful readers will notice a complication that indicates that there might be more fun to come. Judge maintains a fast-paced narration that careens through the adventure in short, action-packed sentences. The characters' names are the only textual hint at the clever twist on a familiar plot. It is only in the illustrations that readers discover that all the characters except for the safari park animals are robots. They inhabit a delightfully detailed futuristic society depicted in geometric shapes and strong ultrabright hues with the appeal of a tiny-tot video game. Text and illustrations work in harmony, with each element enhancing the other. Just plain fun. (Picture book. 3-8)
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August 1, 2014
PreS-Gr 1-When Tin's mother asks him to watch his little sister, he thinks it will be an easy job-until he realizes just how quickly Nickel can slip away from him, and it's his dog, Zinc, who realizes that she's high up in a tree. Their pursuit of the canine, all the way to the city, feels a bit whimsical, never dangerous, making for an enjoyable and well-paced story. Judge's clean, bright illustrations feature a blue robot and a smaller green one with a yellow bow on her head and give plenty of extra details to talk about during a reading, making this an excellent choice for one-on-one sharing and group read-alouds. This picture book offers a fun story about how watching a younger sibling, whether human or otherwise, can be both a challenge and an adventure, a concept with which many young readers will be familiar. Most collections will find this title a worthy addition.-Amy Koester, St. Charles City-County Library District, Wentzville, MO
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2015
Robot Tin is minding his younger sister, Nickel, when her balloon carries her off, and he has a devil of a time catching her. There are no interesting wrenches thrown into the works (Tin ultimately retrieves Nickel, and that's that), and this fantasy could just have logically revolved around humans. Then again, the blocky, clomping robots are kiddie eye candy.
(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)