The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot on the Island / Peter Brown

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
The Wild Robot on the Island
By: Peter Brown
Genre: Children’s
Number of Pages: 48 
Published: June 24, 2025
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: July 30, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

When Roz washes up on an island, she accepts that this is where she is supposed to be and learns from the animals around her. Before long, the island begins to feel like home – especially when Roz becomes a mother to an orphaned gosling she calls Brightbill.

This is a simplified version of The Wild Robot that Peter Brown wrote because he “wanted to depict Roz’s life on the island with large, detailed, colorful illustrations.”, as per his note in the back of the book.

I’m here to tell you that if you adored Roz in The Wild Robot you will fall in love with her again in this version as well because of the illustrations. The original book has black and white illustrations scattered throughout the chapters, but this is a big, bold, and beautiful children’s picture book version!

The Wild Robot Protects (The Wild Robot #3) / Peter Brown

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
The Wild Robot Protects (The Wild Robot #3)
By: Peter Brown
Genre: Middle Grade, Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 304
Published: May 6, 2025 (1st Published September 26, 2023)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: June 17, 2025 - June 23, 2025
Format: Paperback

Roz has fought hard to get back to her island with her friends and her son Brightbill, all seems to be going well until one day an injured seal washes ashore and warns of a dangerous, dust poison tide that’s in the water and heading the island’s way. Once the poison tide is at the island’s edge, the animals are forced inland and resources begin running scarce.

Roz helps the island as much as she can but understands the toll everyone is under. When Roz discovers she’s waterproof, she sets out across the ocean to find out what’s causing the poison tide.

During her underwater journey, Roz meets amazing creatures and sees fantastical geological formations. Friends she makes along the way direct her to the north, to find the giant Ancient Shark. When she finally meets the Ancient Shark, they explain where the poison tide is coming from and that they want to prepare an attack with an army of sea creatures. Roz however, hopes for a peaceful interaction. Can the wild robot save the ocean and her island?

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first or second of the series, mainly because it focused on taking care of the environment, especially with the choices that we make and the consequences that could happen. It kind of made humans to be the bad guys – even if we did clean up after basically getting caught.

Readers who fell in love with Roz the first two books will also enjoy this book, especially because Roz is learning and experiencing something new, but just note it focuses heavily on the message of environment protection, especially within the oceans.

The Wild Robot / Peter Brown

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
The Wild Robot
By: Peter Brown
Genre: Middle Grade, Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 320
Published: April 7, 2020 (1st Published April 5, 2016)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: October 15, 2024 - October 17, 2024
Format: Paperback

When ROZZUM unit 7134 (but you may call her Roz) first opens her eyes she discovers she’s on a remote island and the only robot – she knows she must survive. At first, Roz is disliked by the wildlife because they all think she is a monster and will eat them. But she learns the animal language and doesn’t eat in general, so the animals begin to relax around her. After an accident kills all but one small gosling egg, Roz makes it her mission to raise and protect the duck.

As Roz slowly befriends the animals of the island, the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, when Roz’s mysterious past comes back to get her.

So, has anyone else in the year 2024 picked up this book because of the movie? Usually I read the book before the movie, but I did this one backwards. That being said, the book and the movie are pretty different from one another – same plot, tad bit different storyline.

This is both a simple and a bit of a complex read. The language is definitely aimed at children, but there were also a lot of descriptions of animal violence and death. The writing is written in a way that presents the bit of the morbid side as being the facts of life (if that makes sense). Children understand the world a lot more than adults sometimes give them credit for and this book doesn’t treat children like they’re too young to understand mother nature. That being said, the language is almost simplified in a way that could present as being childish, but the storyline itself is probably better for an older reader – hence it being (younger) middle grade.

The chapters are short and the simple illustrations really add to the read – rather it’s with cuteness overload, or a funny moment also in drawing.

Overall, this is a fun, beautiful book about learning to care for one another, despite differences, and a big shout out to mothers and caregivers everywhere.