Another contender for a Pop Culture Studies addition, but I didn't like this one as much as Steve Antony's Unplugged. Similar theme of online fatigue and how the outdoors can "reboot" life a little bit, and the parallel language of what Dot can do online AND outside was clever. ( )

There's a lot of kids and adults who can learn much from Dot's self-discovery. A great message wonderfully delivered in an appealing fable. ( )

Dot is a young girl who first only uses electric devices. Throughout the story she becomes bored with all of her electric devices, like her iPhone,IPod, and computer. Her mother tells her that it's time to reboot and get some fresh air outside. Dot does what she is told and goes outside, and it turns out that she has been missing out on all of the wonderful things that are just outside her windows. She plays with her friends and they all head over to the playground to play on the monkey bars, and swing set. Children who are listening to this story in this generation can relate to the main character Dot,because they too have probably forgotten all the things there are to do outside. ( )

Dot is a little girl who is very good with technology. She can tap, touch, tag, tweet and swipe. She spends a lot of time inside with all of her technology. She also loves to talk a lot. One day, Dot is all talked out and her mom tells her to go outside and play. She needs to “reboot, recharge, restart!” Outside, Dot has fun with her friends, she taps (dances), touches (sunflowers) and plays “tag”. She is outside from sun up to sun down and has a great day. And she still likes to talk to her friends.
The text in this book is very simple, appropriate for the PreK – 1st grade crowd. The illustrations are cute and colorful. They look like hand drawn computer graphics. While Dot is inside, most of the colors are pink and orange. As soon as she gets outside, the colors are many and they are bright and vibrant.
I like that Dot is a girl who is tech savvy. She has a lot of friends that are both boys and girls. Today’s kids spend a lot of time on devices, but they also relish playing outside. Parents will realize it’s a different world for kids. It’s difficult to predict if this book will become dated quickly because of the technology related words. The author relied a lot on ellipsis throughout her text. I don’t think younger readers will notice. It’s a good read aloud to remind children that it’s important to put down the tablets and computers and go play outside. From the adult perspective, I think it’s interesting that someone who made a lot of money working for Facebook, wrote a book advocating for some limits on technology. She believes that children should go outside and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Maybe this would be a cute book to put up in the school library during Tech Week. ( )