The Wild Robot

Roz’s life begins in a peculiar way. Washed ashore in a crate on what appears to be a deserted island, she is the lone intact survivor of a sunken cargo ship. Charged by the island sun and literally jolted to life when a sea otter reaches through her crate and accidentally pushes a button on the back of her head, Roz, a robot, opens her eyes and introduces herself: ROZZUM unit 7134. Unfortunately, since the island wildlife have never seen anything like her, they think she is a monster and are afraid of her. Surviving a bear attack, Roz quickly realizes that she has to adapt and earn the trust of the island’s creatures if she is to survive. She listens, observes, learns the animal language and shows them that she is not to be feared show more by being courteous and helpful.
Surviving a rainstorm, and discovering that she may have inadvertently been responsible for the death of a goose family, Roz finds one surviving goose egg that hatches, calls her Mama and demands food. There is no arguing with this small gosling, who she names Brightbill, so she has much to learn about caring for her young hatching. Their lives together as a family have the usual, and some unusual, ups and downs, but when a ship is spotted far out on the ocean, they both have lots of questions, completely unaware that their lives may be about to change. I fell in love with this charming story and, okay, I will admit it, the robot. This sweet, thought-provoking story sings loudly of friendship and family, and quietly, without sentimentality, has lots to say about diversity, acceptance and the power of simple acts of kindness. I loved it and you will too.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
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The story of Roz, a shipwrecked robot, is heartwarming and thought-provoking. When she finds her system starting up for the first time on an uninhabited, woodsy island, Roz does what any robot does best: she processes and acts logistically. However, she soon finds out that her survival skills need to be taken up a notch and observes the animals around to learn how to survive and communicate. When a small goose egg completely changes her purpose, Roz dives with her whole system. A sweet modern fantasy in which Peter Brown successfully connects nature to robots.

This trilogy turned out to be so much more than I expected. I thought it would be cute and entertaining in the typical talking animals children's story kind of way.....I was delighted to discover the beautifully written and thought provoking adventure awaiting inside these pages.

Peter Brown has flawlessly blended nature and technology in a beautiful and captivating story of survival, friendship, community, trust, and heart. This story may be about a robot and animals....but the journey is very human.

I love that Brown added themes of realism to this fantastical tale.....there are very real dangers and harsh realities to life in natural elements....instead of shying away from those, Brown uses them as learning opportunities.

The show more illustrations are beautifully done. The art style is perfect for this story and adds a visual enrichment that helps bring the story to life.

There is much more I could say about this wonderful story...but, it's an award winning book and has been film adapted....it's received much well deserved acclaim, by people much more articulate than I. So, I'll just end here by saying this ranks among the absolute best books I've read in recent years, and I highly recommend it for children of all ages, and adults like. show less

Imaginative story, about a Robot stranded on an island who adapts to the wildlife instead of the environment that was planned for her. Roz is incredibly appealing, in a stoic, robot, sort or way. Short chapters with wonderful, stylized art throughout the book. I'm tempted to say something about how she discovers her humanity, but there really isn't any humanity in the book, with the exception of a murderous farmer. In some ways I find it comforting to think that wild creatures and robots would go on without us, and be much happier, too.

This captivating story follows Roz, a service robot stranded on a remote island after a storm. She learns to adapt through observing wildlife, building shelters, and—most importantly—forming relationships with the local animals when she adopts an orphaned gosling named Brightbill. With its clear prose and short chapters, The Wild Robot is ideal for middle-grade readers, including reluctant ones. Roz’s journey—about resilience, belonging, and nurturing community—resonates deeply. The heart of the story lies in Brown’s message: kindness is a survival skill, a theme echoed in both the book and its successful 2024 animated film adaptation.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown has both fascinated me and frightened me for at least 2 months now. I kept seeing the cover when I was shelving or visiting other branches and the image of the single robot standing on top of a pile of rocks kept leaping out at me. I finally gave up the fight when I decided that middle grade fiction was the way to cure my book reading blues. I'm glad that I did because The Wild Robot was a lot of fun to read (and it turns out it's the start of a series!) made even more amazing by the superb illustrations supplied by the author. [A/N Peter Brown is no stranger to creating books as he's a well-known children's picture book author/illustrator but this is his first attempt at middle grade fiction.] This isn't show more your standard 'robot story' but instead it's a look at climate change, the ever-evolving landscape of our world with the advent of technology, and what it means to be truly alive. In short, it's beautiful, thought-provoking literature. The illustrations peppered throughout enhance the story by adding depth to the characters (I love that they're black and white.). Roz is doing the best she can given her circumstances which is really all that anyone can do. The only difference is that she's an artificial lifeform living on an island without any humans. How will this shape her? Will her presence have any effect on the local fauna and flora? Brown's commentary on our world is perfectly geared for a younger audience but it wouldn't go amiss for the adult crowd either. ;-) I can't wait to see how this story continues to develop as Peter carries on with the series. 10/10

For a look at the book from the author's perspective check out this awesome post written by Peter about his process of getting his book published: "The Wild Robot lives!". show less

This book was a gem that I stumbled upon because my wife won a basket of young adult books at a church raffle. I am currently writing a book called, Wonderball Apocalypse, about robots and artificial intelligence, so The Wild Robot seemed a good choice. Wow! It is almost poetic in its language and simplicity, yet there are philosophical overtones hiding in those woods. The artwork is a spectacular accompaniment to the story, also simple and beautiful. The robot, Roz, is more endearing than many other characters I have recently met and I really want to read the sequel to see what happens next. But. This story was so perfect as is, that maybe I should just stop here and treasure it.