THE WILD ROBOT
A New York Times Bestseller
An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Year Top Pick
Wall-E meets Hatchet in this New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown.
Can a robot survive in the wilderness?
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive.
A New York Times Bestseller
An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Year Top Pick
Wall-E meets Hatchet in this New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown.
Can a robot survive in the wilderness?
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island’s unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home–until, one day, the robot’s mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
- Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Paperback
- January 2018
- 304 Pages
- 9780316382007
Buy the Book
$7.99
About Peter Brown
Peter Brown is the author and illustrator of many bestselling children’s books, including Children Make Terrible Pets and The Curious Garden. He is the recipient of a Caldecott Honor for Creepy Carrots!, two E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book award, and a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year.
Praise
“Brown has written a lively tale that is sure to engage young readers.”—The New York Times
“Roz may not feel emotions, but young readers certainly will as this tender, captivating tale unfolds.”—The Washington Post
Discussion Questions
1. How does Roz survive? Why is Roz especially good at adapting?
2. Why do the island’s animals call Roz “unnatural” and “a monster” (page 51)? How does she win them over? In what ways is it scary to be different?
3. Though robots “don’t really feel emotions” (page 8), Roz feels something. What does Roz feel? How do Roz’s feelings compare with how animals and people experience emotion?
4. How does Roz become a mother? One of the other gosling moms says, “You’ll never be the perfect mother, so just do the best you can” (page 99). How is this advice helpful and true?
5. Why do the bears Nettle and Thorn attack Roz (pages 140–143)? Why does Roz save Thorn (page 144)?
6. Why can’t Roz and Brightbill stop wondering about the button on the back of Roz’s head? Were you scared when Brightbill pushed it (pages 157–160)?
7. Why does Roz declare her home “a safe place for all” (page 180)?
8. Thinking about her purpose in life, Roz muses, “Perhaps I am simply meant to help others” (page 192). How does Roz go from asking for help to being the helper? How is asking for help an act of courage? How is it a means of survival? What do you think your purpose in life might be?
9. How are animal instincts like computer programs?
10. What does Roz mean when she thanks her friends and family for teaching her “how to live” (page 217)? What does she mean when she later says that the animals taught her “to be wild” (page 262)?
11. Why do the island animals come to Roz’s defense at the novel’s end? Why does Roz leave the island?
12. How do nature and technology clash in the novel? How do they coexist?
13. How do the illustrations shape your reading of the story? Which illustration do you like best, and why?
14. What does The Wild Robot suggest about the meaning of home?