Middle Grade Book of the week: Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Synopsis:

Robot Dreams is a graphic novel with few words. When a dog orders a robot in the mail, they become fast friends. Then, a trip to the beach leaves Robot rusty. Dog doesn’t know how to fix his robot friend, and ends up abandoning him on the beach. Dog tries to replace his robot friend, but no one is the same. Meanwhile Robot is daydreaming about better places while he is left lying on the beach.

My Thoughts:

As a reading teacher, I normally wouldn’t recommend a book with so few words. But this book lends itself to a lot of meaningful discussion, while also appealing to kids with it’s playful characters. This book could really work for any age. Young children would enjoy the fun animal characters, while older kids would pick up on the bigger themes about friendship and loss.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Middle Grade Book of the week: The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

Summary

Mr. Wolf is tired of always being the bad guy and decides to make a change. He recruits Mr. Shark, Mr. Snake and Mr. Piranha for a mission to rescue 200 dogs from a pound. But it’s not as easy as he thinks. The public thinks of them as the bad guys, not heroes. The other bad guys aren’t as enthusiastic about the change, and Mr. Snake keeps trying to eat Mr. Piranha.

My Thoughts

I love this entire series. Going in, I picked this out expecting it to be like other graphic novels such a Captain Underpants or Dogman. All three series are funny and appealing to kids. However, I think Bad Guys has more adult appeal. The humor is a little more subtle, and the characters are more complex. Even though I was reading it with a student because I thought they’d like it, I found myself wanting to continue reading on my own.

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