A Curious Robot on Mars!
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Far off into space—186 million miles to be precise—a fearless robot rover travels all by his lonesome. He is on a crucial mission from Earth, eagerly seeking to answer the much-anticipated question: Does life exist on Mars? But there is nothing to be seen on this planet except miles of rocks. He loses support from mission control and finds himself alone and cut off from civilization. But the curious little robot is resilient! After noticing a flash of light shining brilliantly through the crack of a rock, he instantly realizes his mission is far from over. He slowly inches towards the edge, but then suddenly falls perilously into the darkness! What will he discover?
Bethany Straker's vibrant illustrations accompany James Duffett-Smith's suspenseful tale of discovery and hope. A Curious Robot on Mars! will motivate any and all readers to strive for one's ambitions—and most importantly, to always be curious!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Newcomer Duffett-Smith gives the Mars rover Curiosity a personality, then casts the robot in a fantasy with two other space exploration icons. Straker (Zombie Cat) transforms Curiosity's camera turret "head" into an adorably expressive face, Wall-E style. The story starts on a grim note, though, as Curiosity is fired by Mission Control. "You've found ice, and you've found rocks," a technician says over a videophone. "Your mission is over." A long shot of Mars and Earth floating in inky black space makes it clear that Curiosity is not only unemployed, but also permanently stranded. It's a traumatic moment. He wipes his rover tears, though, continues exploring, and finds two other space refugees: "Out of the light, Laika, the space dog, barked at him.... And next to her, Sputnik beeped." As Duffett-Smith points out in a jokey conclusion, Curiosity has in fact found life on Mars. Even if readers do recognize Laika and Sputnik not a given Duffett-Smith's puzzling attempt to rewrite space history runs out of steam as he offers them no more than the consolation of each other's company. Ages 3 7.
