The Trouble with Sisters and Robots

by Steve Gritton, Steve Gritton (Illustrator)

Overview

Digging for treasure in their yard, Kyle and his pesky sister, Lizzy, find a robot head. Kyle adds pieces of scrap metal for a body, plugs the whole thing in, and Rusteye the Robot comes alive! Unfortunately, everything Rusteye touches—including Kyle's parents—turn to metal. Kyle can't stop his rampaging robot. Lizzy things she knows how—but will Kyle listen? A hilariously funny science fiction story for robot fanatics—and big brothers—everywhere!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807593318
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	09/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Steve Gritton has always wanted to be a cartoonist. He began drawing birthday cards for his friends when he was thirteen and later created two comic strips for his college newspaper—"The Moth Man" and "Cracker Cats." He enjoys drawing and painting on his computer because it allows him to try new colors and textures, like the effect of metal in this book. Steve also found he was good at working with kids, and now he teaches fourth grade. He lives near Seattle with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 3—Kyle's sister cramps his style. Everywhere he goes, Lizzy is "always in the way." On a backyard search for buried treasure, she tags along, offering unsolicited and unappreciated suggestions. Kyle is thrilled when he unearths a robot head, and, after fashioning a body out of scrap metal, he plugs in his creation. "Rusteye" not only comes to life, but also goes on a rampage, turning everything it touches into a metallic statue. Lizzy tries to offer solutions, but her brother repeatedly cuts her off: "Gosh Lizzy—BE QUIET!" At his wit's end, Kyle finally stops to listen to her sage advice: "You could just unplug him!" The digitally enhanced collage illustrations show silver-toned trees, pets, and parents. Endpapers resemble a sheet of crumbled paper with diagrams on how to make and dismantle a robot. A funny take on sibling squabbles.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

Nothing gets up young Kyle's nose like his irksome, tag-along of a sister, Lizzy. Everywhere he goes, there she is, beaming. If she won't scram, then she'd better "Be quiet, Lizzy!" But when Kyle unearths an old robot head in the backyard, then retrofits it to become Rusteye and the robot runs amok, turning everything it touches to polished steel-including their family-she saves his bacon with some simple advice he finally agrees to hear. Even if it's nice for siblings to find common humanity, this story is thin gruel. Most readers in this range would probably rather learn the meaning of Rusteye's metal-making power than the dynamics of brother-sister harmony, but they won't get it, nor why all the metal melts once Rusteye is brought to heel, nor what it feels like to be turned into metal. The metal angle serves to let Gritton tinker with the textures of computer-generated artwork, which runs from a waxy gray to an undulating, gleaming zinc, setting Kyle and Lizzy's primary-color wardrobe alight. But still, wouldn't it be fun to know what steel eyes see? (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews