The Wild Robot
by Peter Brown
copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9781848127272
269 pages
Recommended ages: 6-10
As a ship sinks, the cargo slowly washes ashore and crates break open upon the rocks. Only one crate glides gently to rest on the sand without smashing upon the rocks. Inside is packed a robot known as ROZZUM unit 7134. After some playful otters accidentally hit her power switch, she whirs to life, extricates herself from her broken crate, and introduces herself to them as Roz. Roz quickly identifies the things in her world that she can and moves away from the ocean due to her Survival Instincts. Roz explores this island that she's landed on and learns all she can. She encounters thick forests, a lightning storm, and a family of bears. By studying nature for long stretches of time, she eventually learns to speak in the languages of the animals. She even nurses an injured fox back to health.
Then one day, Roz is climbing a seaside cliff when she is caught in a sudden rainstorm. As she clings to the cliff, whipped by the wind, a stone is loosed that crashes down the mountainside, taking a nest with it. When Roz finally pulls herself to safety, she finds that two geese and 4 eggs have been smashed on the rocks but one egg remains. Roz, realizing that she has caused this unfortunate accident, feels terrible about the goose family. She manages to save the intact egg from several predators and when the gosling finally emerges, he claims Roz as his mother immediately. Just as Roz has learned to act friendly by observing her surroundings, she must now act motherly. As Roz and Brightbill learn and grow together, a family is formed. As Roz accepts help from the other forest creatures, friendships are formed that will sustain them through the hard times.
After several years, RECO robots, sent to reclaim the lost crated robots, arrive to retrieve her. After a terrible fight in which the RECOs are incapacitated and Roz is gravely wounded, she realizes that she must return to her Makers who will not rest until all of their property has been retrieved. So she boards an airbus which is programmed to fly back to its home base, planning to allow the needed repairs to be done, and then to escape, and return to her home. This is clearly a set-up for the sequel, The Wild Robot Escapes.
At first this story seems pretty basic and simplistic, but coming back to it after a week to write a review, there seems to be more here. The idea of family is central, in this case choosing your family, so this story may resonate especially with families who have adopted members. The idea of learning to be a friend is explored until an inanimate object, a robot, is surrounded by a forest of friends who can help her through the tough times. I like the subtle nod to nature study and learning from the forest creatures.
A scene of Brightbill asserting his independence as a stereotypical “teenager” is handled with graciousness and forgiveness. Brightbill is having trouble understanding what Roz is and where she comes from. He thinks that viewing the “dead robots” on the beach will help him to understand her. Roz doesn't think he is ready for that but Brightbill states “Mama, I'm not a gosling anymore!...I'm already four months old!” So he flies away from her like a moody teenager, knowing that she cannot follow. A wiser, older goose tells Roz, “It's only natural for adolescent geese to be a little...moody. He just needs to be alone for a little while.”
Most references to family and feelings are not very subtle, but since we're reading from a robot's perspective here, the brevity and bluntness kind of works. What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in heart. Some examples:
“We're a strange family,” said Brightbill, with a little smile. “But I kind of like it that way.”
“Me too,” said Roz.
“Hello, son. How long was I out? It seemed like only an instant to me.”
“You were out for a few minutes,” said the gosling as he hugged his mother. “But it seemed like forever to me.”
“I do not believe I have a purpose.”
“Ha! I respectfully disagree,” said Swooper. “Clearly, you are meant to build.”
“I think Roz is meant to grow gardens.”
“Roz is definitely meant to care for Brightbill.”
“Perhaps I am simply meant to help others.”
This example seems unnecessarily heavy-handed:
Many creatures had frozen to death over the winter. And as the last of the snow melted away, their corpses were slowly revealed. The wilderness really can be ugly sometimes. But from that ugliness came beauty. You see, those poor dead creatures returned to the earth, their bodies nourished the soil, and they helped create the most dazzling spring bloom the island had ever known.
This book seems especially useful for a certain age, that age when your student wants to read a full-length book, but still could use some encouragement through very short chapters and many space-saving illustrations.
Content considerations
There is the death of forest creatures, for example, the family of geese that perish in an accident, some forest creatures that freeze during a hard winter, and a description of a goose being shot.
In addition, a RECO robot is shot and “dies.” Other robots have accidents that cause them to lose appendages or to fall apart completely.
When Roz needs fertilizer for her garden, the topic of “defecating” is mentioned humorously.