The Wild Robot (2016)
 First edition cover | |
Publication date | April 5, 2016 |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 978-0-316-38199-4 |
The Wild Robot was published April 5, 2016. [1] [2] In the novel, a mysterious box appears on an island following a hurricane.Otters open the box to discover a robot: ROZZUM unit 7134, later nicknamed Roz.. After coming to life, Roz must learn how to use her skills and technical abilities to adapt to the wild, learning from the animals around her. Although the animals are initially frightened by her, they come to trust her after she adopts an orphaned gosling, Brightbill. All goes well until a ship arrives one day harboring gun-bearing RECO robots.
Themes
Reception
The Wild Robot was a New York Times Best Seller, [4] is a Junior Library Guild book, [5] and received starred reviews from Booklist, [6] Kirkus Reviews, [4] Publishers Weekly, [3] and School Library Journal. [7]
Booklist's Julia Smith discussed how "Brown doesn’t gloss over the harsher aspects of life in the wild [...] but a logic-driven robot provides the perfect way to objectively observe nature’s order". [6] Publishers Weekly similarly added, "The allegory of otherness is clear but never heavy-handed, and Roz has just enough human attributes to make her sympathetic while retaining her robot characteristics". [3] Kirkus Reviews referred to the novel as "thought-provoking and charming". [4] Smith compared The Wild Robot to Disney's WALL-E, [6] while Kirkus Reviews compared it to Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. [4]
Booklist also proffered a starred review for the audiobook narrated by Kate Atwater. Reviewer Amanda Blau highlighted how "music and sound effects underscore the early action", though it disappears once Roz is booted up, as well as how "Atwater gives each animal a voice representing its nature". [8]
In 2016, Booklist, [9] Kirkus Reviews, [4] the New York Public Library, [10] Publishers Weekly, [11] and Shelf Awareness, [12] and The Washington Post named The Wild Robot one of the year's best children's books; [13] Booklist also named the audiobook one of the best audiobooks for children. [14] The following year, the Association for Library Service to Children included it on their list of Notable Children's Books, [15] [16] and Booklist included the audiobook on their "Top 10 Middle-Grade Fiction on Audio" list. [17] In 2019, Booklist included it on their list of the "50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century". [18]
Adaptation
DreamWorks adapted The Wild Robot into an animated film, which was released September 2024. [19] According to Kirkus Reviews, the film is "faithful to Brown’s story in its broad strokes, is impressive in some ways but not without its malfunctions". [20]
