Impressions: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Book Category: Middle grade fiction
I got this book because I was looking for good middle grade stories with an anthropomorphized object main character, and also because this author is also an illustrator. Is this book what they call heavily illustrated, or is it just normal illustrated for middle grade? I’m working on an illustrated middle grade novel, too, so, I want to learn more… How is middle grade writing done? How will I use my illustrations? I’m possibly going for more of an Invention of Hugo Cabret type treatment, but we’ll see!
(Possible spoilers)
“Our story begins on the ocean, with wind and rain and thunder and lightning and waves… .” Drops me right in. Imagery of disaster and the natural world.
The main character, Roz, is a robot that “survives” a catastrophic ship wreck. Was she ever alive to begin with, though? Was she “born” after her box broke open on the island’s rocky shore? The text implies that.
I’m interested in how she comes to knowledge… her experiences vs. her knowledge base (hard drive memory). I like how the author unobtrusively introduced concepts that might not be familiar to young readers.
Chapters: short, almost all named simply for a character or a place or a time or an action
This sentence, when the otters paw at a broken robot hand sloshing in the water: “It made a lovely clinking sound on the rocks and the otters squealed with delight.” Assonance.
I’m curious about the role of the narrator, sometimes 2nd person popping in. Didn’t get a firm answer from the text. Maybe simply a formal “teller of the story” thing?
The Performer/The Opossum, telling Roz how acting is done “You can start by imagining the character you’d like to be. How do they move and speak? What are their hopes and fears? How do others react to them? Only when you truly understand a character can you become that character.” Lessons on empathy.
Loss/Grief more palatable when robots, or geese?
Kinda touches on climate change themes, dystopian, but isn’t didactic.
This is part of my Not a Normal Review series.
Which is not a formal thing, it’s just—
My idea for how to keep notes about books I’ve read.
Finished: in January 2023
Format: Audiobook & Print
If I am wrong on anything, let me know!