Ben Hatke's Little Robot: An Engaging Educational Toy for Kids

Jared H: The book itself was fine but it had all kinds of stickers and stamps from the elementary school library. I contacted the school and returned it.

United States on Jul 21, 2023

STEPHEN HUDSON: We loved how cinematic the writing style was. It shows you rather than telling. My 2yr old loved (provided that I guide her through the more complex/deeper moments). Would also work older kids.

United States on Aug 21, 2022

A. Miller: From 6 year old girl: It was so really amazing! I really liked how the little robot just liked experiencing a new world because it just found this girl and they became such good friends. I just wanted you to know that everybody is good the way they are. And little robot reminded me of that.

United States on May 24, 2021

J Yates: We initially bought this on Kindle, not really know what it was, or what we were getting into, other than it had a sweet description, it was a graphic novel, and it had a robot that was friends of sorts with this child. And it is all that, and more. But it also had an unexpectedly dark side, and the moment with the "bad" robot and the kitty was sad and jarring to read and experience for sure. We glossed over it, my son is young (possible a bit younger than the intended audience) and we adored the story otherwise. The illustrations are gorgeous, the colours are lush and vibrant, and anyone with a love of robots, adventure and friendship will surely love it. We did, we had to buy a paper copy too.

Canada on Jan 30, 2019

Loki: This is a good quality hardback comic book, almost without words (there might be 2 dozen in the whole book) about a young girl who finds a robot. They have their differences, but in the end decide they can still be friends. My robot mad 6yr old LOVED it and spent a long time looking at the pictures after we'd finished looking at it together. It's good for sparking conversations about the nature of friendship and philosophical questions about how we treat others.

United Kingdom on Oct 16, 2018

Amit Jain: A beautiful book which makes the kids imagine and make up a story

India on Oct 07, 2018

Margaret: It arrived in goodf time. My six year old grandson just loves the book. I ordered 2 more by Ben Harke

Canada on Jan 11, 2017

FBE: Little Robot is a surprisingly powerful and effective story. Being written for kids does not stop the story from weaving a slight darkness throughout it, it is easy to see themes of child neglect and abuse, as well as some themes about race and the desire to belong.

But I cant say for certain what Ben Hatke intended.

The best way I can describe it is that it is "impacting" and it is really sturdy. This is the kind of book you will want to read again and again to try and pick up on all of the subtle aspects too the story.

When I read it I was honestly quite shocked by the slightly dark edge it had, but it reminded me a lot about how childhood is often one of the saddest times of our lives, and how sometimes people will willingly put themselves in an abusive situation just to feel like they belong.

And the book shows how we can hurt people we love through a lack of understanding. The book causes a lot of thinking, and that is one of the best things that any work of science fiction can do.

United States on Oct 25, 2016

Cecilie Nissen Jøhnk: In very few words and many drawings, a beautiful story is related that children can relate to and learn from. Alienation and friendship, rebbelion and love.

United Kingdom on Apr 10, 2016

Maureen Miller: We just received this book in the mail, the morning of its official release, thanks to Amazon pre-order. The kids were thrilled! Boys and girls ages 4-12 gathered around and poured over the picture and stories together, and then took turns reading it individually.
Since they are big fans of Hatke's Zita series (see  Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl Series) ), the kids are excited to read all of his graphic novels.
As a mom, I love that the pictures and stories draw the kids into books and inspire them to read.
I asked the children what they thought of the book:
"I really liked it. The setting (bridge and river and mountains) reminded me of my town. There's not many words, but I really enjoyed it." -- boy, 12
"I really like it too, even though it's probably more for younger kids. The pictures were fun." -- girl, 11
"A girl finds a robot but he wants to play with other robots like him. So he leaves her...I like the robot that fixes stuff. He fixes up all the other robos. I think it's silly... I like silly." -- boy, 8
"The bridge looks like Virginia's bridge." -- boy, 5
"Yeah, I like it. I like everything. It's about a girl and a robot." -- boy, 4

United States on Sep 01, 2015