Tour: Review: Little Robot by Ben Hatke (+giveaway)

Little Robot by Ben Hatke
Publisher: First Second Books
Release Date: September 1st, 2015

When a little girl finds an adorable robot in the woods, she presses a button and accidentally activates him for the first time. Now, she finally has a friend. But the big, bad robots are coming to collect the little guy for nefarious purposes, and it's all up to a five-year-old armed only with a wrench and a fierce loyalty to her mechanical friend to save the day!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review. This did not affect my review in any way, nor am I being compensated for it.

As soon as I heard about Little Robot, I knew I wanted to read it. I loved Hatke's Zita series, and I wanted to see more of his work. This one did not disappoint!

First, Little Robot is just so cute. It seems to be aimed at a younger audience than Zita was, but I still really enjoyed exploring the content of the book. Even though there are very few words (and most of the words are more onomatopoeia than anything), the images convey so much of the story and emotions. Hatke really allows the artwork to take the lead in this one. Because of its surface simplicity, this book is great for young children just starting to read. At the same time, the depth of the illustrations make it enjoyable for older audiences as well. The images really speak a thousand words.

I found that there wasn't a lot of substantive background or information on the world, the girl/her background, and the robots, but it wasn't a big deal and aren't the focus of the story. I did, however, want to highlight the main character, whose name we don't even know. Once again, Hatke seamlessly includes a female protagonist, this one a black female protagonist. It's so rare to see such representation in books for young children, particularly graphic novels, but Hatke always manages to do it well. It's not made into a big deal, but that's what is so amazing about it. In addition, I love how she gets to use her skills to solve problems. She takes things into her own hands, and she's smart and capable of solving her own problems. Again, we rarely see young females take this kind of lead and we rarely see them use their own smarts. I just love how Hatke doesn't make a big deal out of it--it's just a part of the story and a part of her character.

I absolutely adored Little Robot, and though I don't know if this one trumps the Zita series, this is one that shouldn't be missed, particularly if you're looking for books for young children/beginner readers.

Giveaway!
Ends September 26th

~~

~Must be 13 or older or have parent permission

~US only

~Winner must respond in 72 hours or a new winner will be chosen

~I am not responsible for lost packages. The book will be sent by the publisher.

~I don't accept entries made from giveaway accounts. Sorry!

All you have to do is tweet:

I want to win a copy of @BenHatke's Little Robot, featuring an amazing female PoC protagonist, from @FlytoFiction! http://flytofiction.blogspot.com/2015/09/tour-review-little-robot-by-ben-hatke.html

(or something similar)

OR 

Comment below and tell me your favorite children's book featuring a female and/or PoC as protagonist!