Boy and Bot Read online

  this is a borzoi book published by alfred a. knopf

  Text copyright © 2012 by Ame Dyckman

  Jacket art and interior illustrations copyright © 2012 by Dan Yaccarino

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books,

  a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Dyckman, Ame.

  Boy and Bot / by Ame Dyckman ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-375-86756-9 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-375-96757-3 (lib. bdg.) — eISBN: 978-0-375-98724-3

  SUMMARY: A boy and a robot strike up a friendship despite their differences.

  [1. Robots—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction.] I. Yaccarino, Dan, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.D9715Bo 2012

  [E]—dc23

  2011016682

  The illustrations in this book were created using gouache on watercolor paper.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  For Alaric, The Boy—A.D.

  For Joe Rash—D.Y.

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  First Page

  About the Author

  A boy was collecting pinecones in his wagon when he met a robot.

  “Hi!” said the boy. “Want to play?”

  The robot blinked. “Affirmative!”

  They played. They had fun.

  But as they rolled down the hill, a rock bumped the robot’s power switch and the robot turned off.

  “What’s wrong?” the boy asked.

  The robot did not answer. “Are you sick?” the boy asked.

  The robot still did not answer.

  “I must help him,” the boy said.

  He took the robot home.

  The boy fed him applesauce.

  He read the robot a story.

  And he tucked him in.

  “Good night, Bot,” the boy whispered, and climbed into bed.

  Later, the boy’s parents peeked in on him. They did not see Bot behind the door. The door bumped Bot on his power switch.

  BEEP! Bot turned on.

  “What-is-wrong?” Bot asked.

  The boy did not answer.

  “Did-you-malfunction?” Bot asked.

  The boy still did not answer. “I-must-help-him,” Bot said.

  He took the boy home.

  Bot gave him oil.

  He read the boy an instruction manual.

  He was bringing him a spare battery when the Inventor walked in.

  “Stop!” the Inventor shouted. “That is a boy!”

  The boy woke with a start. Then he saw Bot.

  The boy smiled. “Bot! You are cured!”

  Bot lit up. “Boy! You-are-fixed!”

  The Inventor called Boy’s parents.

  Then he drove Boy home.

  “Good night, Bot,” Boy said.

  “Good-night-Boy,” Bot said. “Want-to-play-tomorrow?”

  Boy nodded. “Affirmative!”

  And the friends did.

  AME DYCKMAN loves lots of things—especially robots, applesauce, and bedtime stories. When she became a grown-up, she remembered she wanted to write books when she grew up. This is her first one. She lives in New Jersey with her family, and you can visit her at amedyckman.com.

  DAN YACCARINO is an internationally acclaimed authorillustrator with more than thirty books to his credit, including All the Way to America, Lawn to Lawn, The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, Every Friday, Unlovable, and Dan Yaccarino’s Mother Goose. Exhibitions of his work have been held in New York, Los Angeles, Rome, and Tokyo, and he has been invited to the White House to read his books. Dan Yaccarino is also the creator of the TV series Oswald and the Emmy Award-winning Willa’s Wild Life.

  Mr. Yaccarino lives in New York City with his wife and two children. You can visit him on the Web at yaccarinostudio.com.

 

 

  Ame Dyckman, Boy and Bot

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