Blip!: TOON Level 1

by Barnaby Richards

Overview

Using the sparsest vocabulary, Barnaby Richards creates a visually stunning world explored by a robot whose language consists solely of the word "Blip". As readers follow the robot's journey, they will delight in the surreal vistas and remarkable inhabitants of the planet, all while being gently guided through a heartfelt story of finding the familiar in an unfamiliar place.

Barnaby Richards lives in London, where he shares a studio with his wife Alice and their cat Mosca. He has been doodling pictures of his little robot in the margins of notebooks and the corners of pictures for many years. Barnaby was inspired to write Blip! when he felt it was time his robot found a friend.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935179986
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Series:	Toon Series
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

Barnaby Richards lives in London, where he shares a studio with his wife Alice and their cat Mosca. He has been doodling pictures of his little robot in the margins of notebooks and the corners of pictures for many years. Barnaby was inspired to write Blip! when he felt it was time his robot found a friend.

Editorial Reviews

07/11/2016
A robot’s spaceship crashes onto an unfamiliar planet in Richards’s first children’s book, told through sequential panels and little text beyond a scattering of sound effects, including the robot’s repeating “Blip.” With its squared-off head, chunky white spacesuit, and backpack, Richards’s hero looks a bit like an amalgamation of the Tin Man, a Teletubby, and an intrepid middle schooler. Scared off by a loud banging noise, the robot travels across surreal terrain filled with oversize mushrooms, camouflaged dragons, and treacherous swamps, an aesthetic that evokes the underground comics of the 1970s. Attempts at friendship—with a Cheshire-like cat, a bird that won’t stop jabbering, and a brown-skinned girl in a space helmet—don’t go especially well. After several death-defying escapes, the robot learns why the first rule of getting lost in the wilderness is to stay put: that banging sound from the opening pages is actually a female robot repairing her spaceship, which they use to depart together. The robot’s difficulties in connecting with the beings he encounters heightens the loneliness and strangeness of his journey, making the friendship he finally finds all the more rewarding. Ages 4–6. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Blip! won a Golden Duck Award! The award honors the best in science fiction for children.

"It's hard to imagine a better lesson in how to read the format. A sweet introduction to sequential art." - Kirkus Reviews

"The robot's difficulties in connecting with the beings he encounters heightens the loneliness and strangeness of his journey, making the friendship he finally finds all the more rewarding." - Publishers Weekly

"Engaging fantastical landscape and lively action." - Booklist

"Blip! is a smart book that offers an engaging story as well as amazingly detailed artwork and an assortment of visual puzzles that are fun for adults and children alike to decode." - School Library Journal Good Comics for Kids

"Blip! is a fantastic introduction to the sequential art of the graphic novel and it is also (as are all the books TOON publishes) a superb example of what founder Françoise Mouly started out to do in 2008 - create beginning readers with engaging illustrations and stories that are anything but boring." - Books 4 Your Kids

"The simple yet engaging artwork does a wonderful job filling in the details." - Foreword Reviews

"My little guy gets a huge kick out of this one, and I can't wait to share it with my storytime crew when I have my next Robot storytime." - Mom Read It

From the Publisher

10/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Full of easy sight words, with a few panels per page, this graphic novel will appeal to beginning readers and budding comic book fans. Audiences will identify with the lonely robot as he eagerly searches for companionship. The book opens when the robot crashes his spaceship and is set adrift on a strange planet. Hearing a bang, he goes in search of the sound. On his journey he meets a psychedelic cat, a raging dragon, and an imitative bird. The robot attempts to talk to them but can utter only the word blip. Sadly, he is misunderstood time and time again. The robot's adventures take him underwater, through a mushroom forest and video game-like mazes. His pursuit eventually leads him to a newfound friend. The few words in this text are often alliterative (bleep, blip, and bang), and the colorful pages are filled with action and emotion. As with all Toon books, there are tips for parents and teachers on how to read comics with kids. VERDICT Recommended for readers new to the format.—Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC

School Library Journal

2016-07-02
What happens if your spaceship crash-lands on an alien planet and your vocabulary happens to be very limited?A cute-looking, backpack-carrying robot in stylish red boots finds itself stuck on an alien planet when a “Bang! Bang! / Bang! Bang!” sends it scurrying. The story that ensues is told in a simplified comic-book format of one or two panels per page and the occasional double-page spread. The little robot has a vocabulary that consists mainly of one word: “Blip.” Uttered as a statement, a question, or an exclamation, the word is always in a speech bubble, as the form dictates. As the robot wanders along using its one word with the creatures it encounters, it finds itself in all sorts of situations, from the scary to the bewildering. Richards’ dynamic page composition will keep readers engaged, and his very expressive little robot will keep them rooting for a happy ending. Along the way readers will find plenty of details to catch their eyes. Not everything is as it looks. In the end the robot returns to its ship only to find a skirt-wearing robot in stylish orange boots busily fixing its own ship. The happiness they both experience upon finding another of their own kind is expressed in one big and satisfying mutual “BLIP!” While kids won’t pick up much vocabulary, it’s hard to imagine a better lesson in how to read the format. A sweet introduction to sequential art. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews