Sharing Does Not Compute

by Michael Slack, Michael Slack (Illustrator)

Overview

Power up with robots Standroid and Dandroid in this playful board book about sharing!

Standroid’s battery is full and Dandroid’s charging is complete. The two robots are fueled-up and ready to play! Standroid grabs a toy car. Dandroid wants to play with it, too. But Dandroid does NOT want to share. Error! Sharing does not compute! Will the two robots figure out how to override the command and play together?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534405691
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Series:	Standroid & Dandroid
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	968,773
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	2 - 4 Years

About the Author

Michael Slack is an artist, illustrator, and character designer. His humorous, character-driven art has been recognized by Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, Applied Arts, Pictoplasma, Computer Arts, and SBS Digital Design. Michael’s illustrations have appeared in books, magazines, and on TV. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in the US and Europe.

Michael Slack is an artist, illustrator, and character designer. His humorous, character-driven art has been recognized by Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, Applied Arts, Pictoplasma, Computer Arts, and SBS Digital Design. Michael’s illustrations have appeared in books, magazines, and on TV. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in the US and Europe.

Editorial Reviews

2018-10-28

Two robot buddies struggle to share a remote-control car.

Standroid and Dandroid, a pair of robots constructed from lightly detailed simple shapes, one in fuchsia and one in gold, are "powered up" to play. At first, their individual games all mesh to create even better playtimes, as when one's soap and the other's water combine to make supercool bubbles, but a difficult-to-share remote-control car causes tension. For inanimate objects, the expressive motion lines and evocatively angled circular eyes against white background make the robots' many emotions abundantly clear. They are never more so than when the increasingly jealous fuchsia robot (which is which is never entirely clear) declares that "sharing does not compute." A tussle erupts, and the remote comes apart, revealing a "secret button" inside. Chagrined, they decide to press the button together, which starts a raucous laser show and "dance party." It's a feel-good ending for sure, but it's also unsatisfying. Though the androids declare their decision to share, the phrase used—"Overriding self mode. / Initiating share sequence"—is bewilderingly confusing, and the two androids never actually model any sharing; rather it's the improbable secret button that saves the day. Read aloud, the book achieves an appropriately robotic tone, but an overreliance on sophisticated tech words such as "sensors" and "activate" seems intended more for adult readers than the child audience.

The robot's lively antics are amusing, but the story feels overly mechanical. (Board book. 1-3)

Kirkus Reviews