Amazon.com (ISBN 0517799847, Hardcover)

Kids hate it when they're left alone with a Robot Babysitter. And why wouldn't they? You can't argue with a computer program that tells you 8:00 Earth time is bedtime... and then at 8:15 reports that you are in violation of your scheduled routine. "The trouble with you, Babysitter, is that you are no fun," complains young Benjamin McFadden. "I'm not programmed for fun," Babysitter answers. So, Benjamin opens up the forbidden panel on Babysitter's back and programs it for fun. Games! Books! Music! Cookies! Fun is had, but when Benjamin gets tired, the robot does not. Much to Benjamin's horror, Babysitter has become an out-of-control fun machine, wreaking complete havoc on the household as the pages explode with flying basketballs, jogging dice, rolling cups of cocoa, and cavorting chess pieces. Desperate, he calls the Babysitter Help Line, and is told that he must use the Ultimate Password to get his dear old boring Babysitter back. What is the Ultimate Password? Luckily, Benjamin figures it out before his parents get home. Kids will like poring over the comical details in Timothy Bush's artful depictions of a futuristic Jetsons-style home, and will easily relate to familiar babysitter-related sentiments and scenarios. An interplanetary robot romp! (Ages 5 and older) --Karin Snelson