Boy and Bot

Publishers Weekly

Imaginative and sweet-natured, Dyckman’s picture-book debut centers on the relationship between a boy and a robot, whose mutual generosity embodies the very best that friendship has to offer. Scruffy haired Boy and red, bullet-shaped Bot hit it off immediately after they meet in the forest. But when a rock accidentally turns off Bot’s power switch, Boy jumps into caregiver mode, taking Bot home, feeding him applesauce, reading him a story, and tucking him in for the night. And when Bot is inadvertently reactivated and finds Boy asleep, he reciprocates the only way he knows how, giving Boy oil, reading him an instruction manual, and bringing him a spare battery. Yaccarino’s (All the Way to America) brightly colored gouache illustrations and chunky characterizations are filled with affection and create a warm and cheery environment from first page to last. Dyckman’s pared-down prose gives the role-reversal story just enough drama, humor, and robot-inflected dialogue (“Boy! You-are-fixed!” cheers Bot when Boy wakes up) to keep children entertained for many re-readings. Ages 1–4. Agent: Scott Treimel, Scott Treimel NY. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

Starred Review, Booklist, April 1, 2012:
"“The final, nearly wordless pages, with snapshots of the friends at play, are priceless.”

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2012:
“Dyckman’s debut offers pitch-perfect pacing and gentle humor…. as Boy and Bot would say, it’s ‘affirmative’ that this book will be a hit.”

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, February 6, 2012:
“Dyckman’s pared-down prose gives the role-reversal story just enough drama, humor, and robot-inflected dialogue…to keep children entertained for many re-readings.”

Review, The New York Times Book Review (online edition), April 11, 2012:
“It’s a perfectly adorable, age-appropriate friendship. And it’s simply impossible to imagine a 4-year-old boy not wanting to be friends with this book.”

Kids' Indie Next List, Summer 2012

Kirkus Reviews

Dyckman's debut offers pitch-perfect pacing and gentle humor in a sweet story about a friendship that prevails over confusion. Boy and Bot immediately hit it off and play together until Bot's power switch gets bumped. Instead of realizing the problem, Boy thinks something is wrong with his new friend, so he brings him home and unsuccessfully tries to rouse Bot with applesauce and books. While Boy is asleep that night, Bot's power switch gets bumped again, and he thinks there's something wrong with Boy. With pleasing parallel structure, Bot brings Boy home and tries to revive him with oil and by reading aloud an instruction manual. He wonders if putting a new battery into Boy will solve the problem, but an inventor suddenly appears and shouts, "Stop! That is a boy!" The shouting awakens Boy, and then the inventor drives him home. Throughout, Yaccarino's stylized gouache paintings heighten the text's humor, but their greatest contributions come in the final, nearly wordless spreads depicting the two wide-awake friends' happy, ongoing companionship. Perhaps these closing scenes anticipate more stories to come about these friends, since, as Boy and Bot would say, it's "affirmative" that this book will be a hit. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pamela Paul

…sweet and playful…with deceptively simple gouache illustrations…It's a perfectly adorable, age-appropriate friendship. And it's simply impossible to imagine a 4-year-old boy not wanting to be friends with this book.
—The New York Times

School Library Journal

PreS-K—A small boy and a robot become playmates. When Bot's power switch accidentally gets turned off, his pal thinks he's sick and takes him home where he feeds him, reads him a story, and puts him to bed. When the boy's parents check on their sleeping son, they unknowingly bump the robot's switch and he turns back on. Seeing the sleeping boy, he thinks there has been a malfunction. The robot takes the boy to his home, squirts oil into the child's ear, and reads him a story. He thinks that Boy may need a new battery. When the Inventor shows up and sees what is happening, he shouts to Bot, which awakens the boy. The pals are relieved to see that each of them is in good repair. Although the two friends must part, they promise to meet again. And so they do. The gouache cartoon illustrations have bright colors and crisp lines. With its subtle humor, this one is sure to fly off the picture-book shelves, as what little boy doesn't want a robot for a friend?—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI