Robot Dreams

Robot Dreams, by Sara Varon, is also from the 2008 Notable Books for Children List. This wordless graphic novel tells the story of a dog who builds a robot that becomes his friend until one day the robot rusts at the beach and the dog leaves him there. The robot waits and dreams of his friend coming back, then dreams of being rescued, or of tunneling out of the snow in the winter and finding his friend the dog with a new robot, or of befriending a flower. Meanwhile, the dog did try to come back for the robot later, but the beach was closed for the season. So, he meets new friends, such as three ducks who leave to fly south, two anteaters whose ants make him sick, and a snowman who eats ice cream with him and a penguin. None of these friendships are as fulfilling as his friendship with the robot was. When summer returns, the dog returns to the beach to look for the robot, but he is gone, having been found and sold to a scrap yard. So the dog builds a new robot, while elsewhere a raccoon uses parts from the first robot to repair his radio. The raccoon and the robot become friends, but one day he sees the dog and the new robot walk by his window. He turns on his radio and the dog hears the music and begins to sing along as he walks away. This book is a great example of how wordless picture books can be poignant and meaningful. It could be appreciated by anyone of any age.