Robot Dreams by Sara Varon was sold to me as being a cute little story about a dog who builds a robot so that he has a friend. I was hoping for something with The Wild Robot vibes but I actually found it to be disturbingly macabre and callous. This is a children's graphic novel and yet it explores some really dark themes (in itself not a problem but this was creepier than most). Did I mention that it was entirely wordless? I'm not certain if it's a gift or a curse that Varon possesses to entirely unnerve me without using a single, solitary word. Without giving the entire plot away (this is a very short book by the way), a dog builds himself a robot friend and the two of them are inseparable...until the robot gets rusty at the beach and the dog abandons him there. Yes, he left his very best friend behind at the beach. The next day the beach is closed for the winter and the entire area is fenced off. (That's one strict town!) So now the robot is left on the beach to rust while the dog tries to make a new friend. There are mishaps on both sides of this relationship as the robot is beset by weather, a group of boaters who partially disassemble him, and eventually a junk collector. The dog keeps making friends with those who either can't or won't stick around and he's back at square one without any friends at all. Like I said this is not sweet bedtime reading. If you're looking for a creepy existential crisis well you've hit the jackpot. If you wanted a cutesy little graphic novel you've made a horrible, horrible mistake. 1/10

What's Up Next: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

What I'm Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond and The Science of Supervillains by Lois H. Gresh & Robert Weinberg 

Genre: Adventure / Fantasy / Friendship / Horror

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  11/3/2016

Publisher: Magnetic Press / Buno Publishing 

I would like to thank NetGalley and Magnetic Press and Buno Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

Now for years, I had read many graphic novels that would have written dialogues from the characters to help us understand the story being told in the comics. However, even though I had read many children’s books that had no text and the story was being told through the artwork, I had never read a graphic novel that did not have any dialogue spoken by the characters and lets the artwork tell the story. Luckily, I was able to come across such a graphic novel called “Light” by Rob Cham that was graciously provided to me by NetGalley and I have to say that I was quite impressed with this wondrous story!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with two explorers (a white big nosed creature and a grey leaf looking creature with large eyes) going on a journey through deep inside the earth to find five magic gems that would bring back color to the surface world. Along the way, the two explorers meet up with various dangerous and strange creatures that get in their way of completing their mission to find the magic gems!

What I loved about this story:

Rob Cham’s story and artwork: Wow! Everything that Rob Cham did in this graphic novel was just fantastic to read through! Not only was this a nice quick read due to the story not containing any text, but I found the story to be extremely creative and exciting! I loved the way that Rob Cham told the story through the artwork as we get to see the two explorers go through various obstacles in order to obtain the five magic gems. I like how the storytelling is similar to a video game mission where you have to find all the items to complete the game (sort of like how with “Sonic the Hedgehog” you have to find all the chaos emeralds to get a complete ending for the game). However, in this case, the video game mission is given a more coherent plot and you get to experience the journey with the two explorers through the artwork! Rob Cham’s artwork is what really sold this graphic novel to me as the characters look so strange yet wondrous at the same time and I really loved the appearance of the two explorers as they look so adorable compared to the other strange and dangerous creatures in this story. I also loved the colorings for the artwork as the surface world is drawn in black and white colors as it represents the lack of color in their world, while the world below the earth has neon colors, but the coloring is against a black background that gives that world a dark and frightening feel.



What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For those of you who do not like violence and scary imagery, this graphic novel does have several moments where the explorers have to stab and cut their enemies in order to survive the journey. Also, there are images of some frightening creatures such as the large bat that chases the explorers and night creatures that try to eat the explorers that might creep out some readers.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Light” is a truly fantastic and creative story that anyone who loves fantasy adventure stories will definitely get a kick out of!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

I will never tire of these beautiful, clever books. Fortunately, there are many, many birds. Now I've amused myself with the idea of a parody book "Flora and the Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock. Which leads to the recognition that no one names their child Alfred anymore, and that's how I know the world is becoming a better place.

Molly Idle: making the world a better place by random association and gorgeous books.

Library copy

Genre:  Food / Comedy / Wordless / Winter / Pets

Year Published: 1978

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.

You know, I have been reading Tomie dePaola’s works ever since I was a child and out of all of those works, I had never once read a book of Tomie dePaola’s that was…WORDLESS! Now, I have been reading many wordless picture books for ages, but I never knew that Tomie dePaola wrote a wordless picture book called “Pancakes for Breakfast” which was indeed his first wordless picture book!

The story starts off with an old woman waking up from bed, along with her dog and cat and she wanted to make a nice batch of pancakes for breakfast. So, the old woman went to her kitchen to get the ingredients she needed for the pancakes, but she realized that she did not have any eggs for the batter. So, she goes out to the barn to get some eggs from the chickens and after she got the eggs, she realizes that she does not have any butter for the batter. So, she goes outside to milk her cow and create the butter with the milk she churned from the cow and after she made the butter, she realizes that she does not have any maple syrup! So, she goes to her neighbor’s house to get some syrup and just as the old woman got all the ingredients to make her pancakes…

Does the old woman finally get the chance to eat her pancakes?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! For a wordless picture book, this was some pretty impressive work from Tomie dePaola, especially when you are so used to Tomie dePaola’s works having text to narrate the stories! Tomie dePaola’s artwork really sold this story as it shows how an old woman wanted to make pancakes for breakfast, but keeps on forgetting the essential ingredients to make her pancakes such as milk, eggs, butter and syrup. It was cute seeing the old woman try to obtain the ingredients for the pancakes in many different ways such as milking her cow to get the butter and milk, getting eggs from her hens and getting syrup from her next door neighbor as it gives the story an old fashioned and traditional vibe that really made this story stand out from the other modern day stories about obtaining ingredients for a recipe. I also loved the images of both the dog and the cat as it was adorable seeing them accompany the old woman in her need to obtain the ingredients for her pancakes.



Overall, “Pancakes for Breakfast” is a truly cute story about an old woman trying to find the right ingredients for her pancakes that many readers, who had to go through the same experience, no matter how differently they went about it, would definitely relate to! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.


Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog