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The Wild Robot

(The Wild Robot #1)

Peter Brown

4.13 · Rating details · 25,873 ratings · 3,784 reviews

Can a robot survive in the wilderness?

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her ...more

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Hardcover, 279 pages

Published April 5th 2016 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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2017 Mock Newbery

94 books — 365 voters

Middle Grade Novels of 2016

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Average rating 4.13 ·

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· 25,873 ratings · 3,784 reviews

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Feb 21, 2018 Jesse (JesseTheReader) added it

This was a nice read! I loved the illustrations so much. At times I did feel the story felt a little bit disjointed and all over the place, but it was a quick and sweet read.

flag 325 likes · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2018 Miranda Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, absolute-favorites

FRIENDSHIP OVER - if you don't love this book

(I'm deadly serious - don't test me)

I cannot remember the last time when I was so surprised and delighted.

This brought me back to my childhood and I am forever grateful to Peter Brown for writing it.

One year ago, I awoke on the shore of island. I was just a machine. I functioned. But you --- my friends and my family --- have taught me how to live.

Roz - a standard issue manual labor robot - is stranded on an island.

At first, she is at a loss - she ...more

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Dec 10, 2016 Cristina Monica rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, animals

I don’t believe I’ve ever said this in a review of a book before, but I think a lovely video game for kids can be made out of Peter Brown’s new middle grade novel.

The illustrations made me think that, with their original style and 3-D quality. Plus the story could work.

Because this is about a robot female (Roz) who mysteriously ends up on an island devoid of humans but filled with animals that form a certain community.

Roz tries to be part of that community by being friendly and helpful with the ...more

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Jan 08, 2019 Mischenko rated it really liked it

My family loves Peter Brown and we have a few of his other children’s books in our home library which are favorites. We were so excited to find out he had written a middle-grade book and went ahead and purchased The Wild Robot. After my daughter read it, she kept begging me to get to it, and I’m sorry I waited so long. This turned out to be a great read!

The story begins with a robot named Roz who has arrived on an island. She was in a crate among other robots on a ship and now has been washe ...more

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Apr 19, 2016 Betsy rated it really liked it

Shelves: old-timey-fare, robots, animal-fiction, bedtime-readaloud-fiction, middle-grade-science-fiction, science-fiction

There are far fewer robot middle grade books out there than you might expect. This is probably because, as a general rule, robots fall into the Data from Star Trek trap. Their sole purpose in any narrative is to explain what it is to be human. You see this all the time in pop culture, so it stands to reason you’d see it a bit in children’s books too. Never you mind that a cool robot is basically a kid’s dream companion. Take away the kid, put the robot on its own, and you have yourself some phil ...more

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Apr 29, 2019 Calista rated it liked it

Shelves: award-dorothy-canfield-fisher, award-various, genre-drama-tragedy, 2016, series-will-not-finish, award-goodreads-choice, genre-fantasy, series, bage-middle-grade

This was a good idea. I have a nephew who just went to a robot convention to build a little robot. He is robot crazy, so I understand the popularity of a robot very well. I love them in Star Wars. I even loved Data in Star Trek.

I could not relate to Roz, the robot, in this story. I didn't understand why a robot was used really. I feel the emotional journey that Roz goes on would have been better with some sort of detached person or something, I don't know. I kept getting hung up on the robot Ro ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Melki rated it liked it

Shelves: love-the-cover, kidstuff, science-fiction, domo-arigato-mr-roboto, fantasy

I know, I know. I'm as surprised as anyone . . . a book about a robot that I didn't go absolutely ga-ga over.

Who'd a thunk it?

I was expecting this to be one of my favorite reads of the year, but instead, I just found it strange - a weird, disconcerting read. You see, the author employs this folksy, gather-'round-kiddies-and-I'll-tell-you-a-tale voice that seems most likely to appeal to very young children, and yet, there are such mature themes here. And death. Lots and lots of death.

On the p ...more

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May 27, 2018 Kayla Dawn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

I loved the illustrations in this so much. They are absolutely perfect for the story.

I actually loved the whole book. I thought it would be just a children's book but it actually had some important topics in it (global warming and the effect it has on animals for example).

I'm really curious for the second book in this series!

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Nov 27, 2015 Donalyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: children-s-fantasy, 2016-nerdy-book-club-awards

Read the ARC, which doesn't have the final illustrations and still thought it was powerful. This book will spark lots of great conversations with kids about kindness, community, and what it means to be alive.

Update: Read the finished book and declare it even better with the illustrations, of course!

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Feb 09, 2019 Mel (Epic Reading) rated it really liked it

The first 70% of The Wild Robot is adorable. This middle aged story is void of humans and our lead character is instead a robot. One that can learn and analysis things in order to determine the best course of action based on databases stored in it's logs (things like survival, animal types, etc.). Peter Brown has taken the idea of a conscious AI and given it life in our Robot.

The Animals
Just as key to the story as the robot itself are the animals on the island. Each is a character in it's own r The first 70% of The Wild Robot is adorable. This middle aged story is void of humans and our lead character is instead a robot. One that can learn and analysis things in order to determine the best course of action based on databases stored in it's logs (things like survival, animal types, etc.). Peter Brown has taken the idea of a conscious AI and given it life in our Robot.

The Animals
Just as key to the story as the robot itself are the animals on the island. Each is a character in it's own right. Especially our little baby goose without a mother; and a super chatty squirrel. Our robot learns to 'speak' to the animals in their own voices (ie: honks, chatters, etc.) and eventually begins to become a part of the community of the forest. Many younger children are likely to be enamored by the animals if they can't quite get the idea of a robot that has pseudo-feelings.

The Ending
Unfortunately Peter Brown misses the mark by a few extra ships wrecked on islands when it comes to the end of The Wild Robot. As things become less about the robot and the island's weather conditions and other inhabitants; we start to see The Wild Robot devolve into too literal of a moral story that is too obvious in it's use of technology and advancement as an excuse for things to happen. I missed the cute robot from the beginning in the last quarter of this story. That said it is a series and so perhaps book 2 could bring things back around?

Overall
If you have a little boy or girl that is obsessed with the idea of robots or computers this is a great way to introduce them to animals and the idea of weather and nature. On the flip side it's a great way to take a child who loves the forest and animals and start them thinking about what happens when technology is introduced. There are certainly good morals and pieces of story here for a child under 10 to read and/or hear. It's important that we remember that children today don't know what the world was like before we could tweet, text, look-up every answer and interact at a moments notice. The Wild Robot gives them a bit of an insight into what 'camping' without connected technology might be like. I also believe it's context surrounding what is a 'monster' and which is an ideal that children cannot hear often enough these days. ...more

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Aug 18, 2018 David Schaafsma rated it liked it

Shelves: children, middle-grades, sci-fi, environment

I liked this 3rd or 4th grade book I listened to with the fam on a road trip in the western US, the first in a series, maybe a trilogy. Roz is one of the robots who washes up on the shore of an island when being transported to her owner. All of her fellow robots are smashed on the rocks, but she lives on to encounter nature, basically in the form of other animals who are not welcoming to her (an immigration or bully thing). She actually encounters the threat of violence from two adolescent bears I liked this 3rd or 4th grade book I listened to with the fam on a road trip in the western US, the first in a series, maybe a trilogy. Roz is one of the robots who washes up on the shore of an island when being transported to her owner. All of her fellow robots are smashed on the rocks, but she lives on to encounter nature, basically in the form of other animals who are not welcoming to her (an immigration or bully thing). She actually encounters the threat of violence from two adolescent bears, too. As well as various climate challenges she has to which she must adapt. But she learns from every encounter, as one expects robots will, possessed of reason above all. But is reason all she needs to survive?

So, early on I wondered what the purpose of the robot was; I mean, why not just strand a girl on the island? She might equally learn how to adapt, live with others, survive. I mean, we have Lord of the Flies, The Swiss Family Robinson, and so on, we know we can do this. But then we realize this is basically a children’s sci-fi series; it’s a kid exploration of AI, the old robot questions. And we see that, to survive, Roz needs to get “wild” and not just rationally problem-solve. She needs to create relationships with others. She needs to know friendship, love, home. And when an orphaned gosling shows up. . . can Roz become its mother?

Another aspect of this book that interests me is how it deals with separation and death; there’s the smashed-up robots, and then there come other deaths, and a separation (involving migration!). On the way hand, it’s good for young kids to know that the environment involves animals eating other animals, death happens, and yet we of course don’t want to traumatize them. I think this book deals well with these issues age-appropriately. Part of life!

In the end the company who has tracked Roz down comes to the island, and what happens is a little surprising. Overall this seems like a good book for this age level. It’s well written and has that robot/nature angle for young sci fi kiddos. I/we’ll listen to the second one. ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Liza Fireman rated it it was ok

Shelves: ebook, read-from-shelf

I did not like this book at all. Except the premise of a robot in the wild it did not make much sense. I'll expand on the reasons.

There is a big gap between the writing style, which is almost so simple to fit only a really short juvenile book, and the length, which is MG. For over 70% of the book nothing that is not straight forward is happening (yes, she befriends the animals, build fire etc, but nothing really interesting to hold a smart reader is there). In addition, the reader (referred by ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 The Captain rated it it was amazing

Shelves: younger-readers

Ahoy there me mateys! I was looking to read something short that fit me current mood and this book was found in the hold. This is listed as a middle-grade but bah! I don’t put age limits on things.

This is about a robot whose crate gets washed overboard from a cargo ship and she ends up on a deserted island. Except the island isn’t actually deserted. It is filled with local wildlife. So the robot, Roz, has to to discover how to survive on the island, her purpose, and perhaps how she got there.

Tho ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Book Riot Community added it

I don’t read a lot of books about robots or about the wilderness, but it’s hard to imagine that the two overlap very regularly. The odd concept and fantastic artwork is what had me picking up children’s book author Peter Brown’s first novel, but the beauty of the story full of loss, love, and humor is what stuck with me long after I put it down. Like most of the very best middle-grade books, The Wild Robot can connect with adults just as easily as children.

–Trisha Brown

from The Best Books We Rea ...more

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May 02, 2020 ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪SomeBunny Reads (Phoenix)•*¨*•♫♪ rated it liked it

Shelves: owned

Oh well, I knew I would like this book. Middle grade? Check. Talks about robots? Check. Has great illustrations created by the author? Check. I think if I had read this book when I was in the target age, it would have been a favourite. As an adult, I appreciated the story and the beautiful characters, although I must admit this was much less wholesome than I expected. There is a lot of talk about death in this book, which kinda put me off guard. This book has the same amount of death per chapte ...more

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Nov 13, 2016 Jan rated it it was amazing

Update 3/18/18
I just read this book for the second time in preparation to read the sequel The Wild Robot Escapes tomorrow. I don't know if it's possible to love this book any more than I already did, but I'm thinking maybe I do. Or maybe I just fell in love with Roz all over again. I wish we could all have someone like Roz in our life. We would never be sad or lonely or feel unloved. Someone would always have our back and be there to support us through whatever life deals us. What a perfect worl ...more

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Apr 22, 2020 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a cute little story I came across coincidentally. It's the story of a robot. Hundreds of robots had been shipped and crashed due a storm until only one was left. This robot boots up on an island. It doesn't know anything about its origins and it is alone.

The island, where there aren't remains of the crashed robots, is lush and green. The animals of the island at first played with the robot remains (well, the otters did) until they found the one intact robot left. But once this robot has This is a cute little story I came across coincidentally. It's the story of a robot. Hundreds of robots had been shipped and crashed due a storm until only one was left. This robot boots up on an island. It doesn't know anything about its origins and it is alone.

The island, where there aren't remains of the crashed robots, is lush and green. The animals of the island at first played with the robot remains (well, the otters did) until they found the one intact robot left. But once this robot has woken up, all species on the island are quite hostile towards it, attacking it even.
A while later, while wandering around lonely and alone trying to survive, the robot finds a little gosling that has no mother. The gosling doesn't care about the robot's loud weird voice or the metal body - all it cares about is the care the robot gives it and the shelter.
Little by little, the different animals living on the island see the robot and its "child" and come to realize that the robot might not be as awful as they thought and they accept it (not really a spoiler), helping to raise the gosling.

That, however, is only the set-up, really, and not the end of the book as the robot's past catches up with it. How and how the book ends? Well, read for yourself to find out. ;)

Roz the robot is different and yet she can still be a great mother to the ducklin and she can still be a great member of the "family" (animal species) living on the island, making the story all about inclusion and the fact that one doesn't need to be related by blood in order to be a family. But we also get the comparison of nature vs technology and the not-so-easy question of what it means to be alive.

The art was quite cute as can be seen from some of my pictures I included. Moreover, the messages are a good way of preparing kids to deal with diversity (both visual and in character), different versions of families and might even help them to live a life in sync with both nature and tech.

For me, personally, the highlight was to see Roz learn from nature and nature to learn from/about her in return. ...more

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Jul 01, 2019 Jaksen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

We love Peter Brown in my family. His 'Creepy Carrots' - he's the illustrator - remains a favorite even as the boys start to grow out of picture books. No, I say! I love picture books and I am decades older than the boys, so...

When my older grandson, age eleven, told me he owned this book and that I should read it, what could I do? I can read a book this size in a day - an afternoon - but I spread it out so I could deliciously enjoy it. And I did!

Roz the Robot is cast onto a small island during ...more

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Oct 10, 2019 Emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: byl-reads, books-read-aloud-to-the-kids

This was a read aloud with my 10 year old and we both loved this story. A cargo ship loses a crate of robots who wash up on the shore of an island, and one of them wakes up. Roz adapts to live in the wild with the animals on the island and thrives in her new surroundings. I loved the nature study aspect of the story - seeing how Roz studies the world around her and learns to speak with the animals.

My 10 year old says it was amazing and she is anxious to read the next book in the series.

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Jan 06, 2017 Amber rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, ebooks-library

Roz is a robot who wakes up on an island. Determined to survive, Roz decides to befriend the animals of the island and learns from them how to survive. Will she succeed? Read on and find out for yourself.

This was a pretty good audiobook. I enjoyed this robot story. If you like stories about survival and friendship, be sure to check this out for yourself. It is available at your local library and wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

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Jun 01, 2016 Emily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, juvenile-fiction-non-fiction, read-to-my-kids-books

Be prepared to cry. I loved every minute of this book. It was creative and heartwarming and as realistic as you can get considering it's about a robot surviving in the wilderness. Also, there better be a sequel in the works or else someone is getting a nasty letter.

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Nov 27, 2019 ♥ Rebecca ♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-audio, sci-fi, favourites, to-buy-wishlist, childrens

I loved this book! One blurb I read said it was a cross between Wall-E and Hatchet, and I feel like that is a very accurate description. It was an adorable story about a robot who tries to fit in with the wild creatures on the island where she was shipwrecked, and she manages to make friends and family, and takes care of a lot of animals. I think it would be great for some older children, like maybe 9. There is a fair amount of peril in it and deaths of animals by natural causes such as rock sli ...more

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Jan 22, 2016 Jill Pickle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: great-read-alouds, middle-grade

This book will do for robots what Charlotte's Web did for pigs.

I loved, loved this book. Peter Brown maintains his perfect picture book voice but in an early chapter book... And this voice is maintained throughout. Many picture book authors attempt this, few succeed. (Parents: such a great read aloud!)

The Wild Robot is essentially a survival story--not quite as scary as The Hatchet, but it definitely doesn't shy away from basic facts of violence in nature (including humans). But what I love mos ...more

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Apr 12, 2016 Travis rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016

Isaac Asimov writes HATCHET. Wonderful book.

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Mar 08, 2016 Amy rated it it was ok

Recommended to Amy by: Donalyn

Shelves: 2016-starred-reviews, vr-5-2016, literacy-giveaways, arc, little-brown

(Reviewed from an ARC that I received as part of a reader affiliate program.)

I was excited to start this book for several reasons:
1. It had received starred reviews
2. It was featured in one of Donalyn Miller's best-of-the-year so far lists
3. I am a HUGE fan of picture book authors who take their top-notch storytelling skills and cross over into middle grades fiction (hellloooo Mac Barnett)

However, this book frustrated me. I was intrigued by the premise (container ship filled with robots gets stu ...more

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Mar 18, 2016 Niki Marion rated it it was amazing

This book makes me wanna return to grad school so I can write all the papers on this book, which somehow manages to include every hot button topic in today's culture in this book (a sampling: motherhood, humanness, disability, climate change, civilization, gun violence) while making it extremely readable and only semi-heavy-handed at parts.

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Oct 07, 2019 Rachel Aranda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, library-rentals

4-4.25 stars

This book was a delightful surprise! I had heard a little about this book but my friend Miranda was so in love with this series I knew I had to read it when I could. Borrowing a physical copy from the library just wasn’t in the cards for me but the audiobook came up and I grabbed it. It was sweet seeing Roz finding her way in the island with its animals. The action scenes near the end took me by surprise and I freaking loved it! I could see why some readers could feels these scenes m ...more

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Dec 24, 2019 vanessa rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019, jf, childrens-lit, physically-from-the-library

There’s such sweet whimsy in this novel. It was easy for me to suspend my disbelief and just let these characters and this setting take over. A really fun delight - if you know kiddos who like books that take place in the natural world/survival stories this is great.

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Jan 30, 2019 Laurene rated it really liked it

Sometimes a book, a children's book, surprises me. When I finished The Wild Robot, I had to sit back and absorb what I just read. Thought this simple book would be a cute simple story about a robot. I book I could pick up between my other more developed reads. I was completely baffled. Yes, it is a story about a robot named Roz but it is a story about Life. The ability to experience life if you are courageous enough to open yourself to it.

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Jun 20, 2020 Jen/The Tolkien Gal/ジェニファー rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, 2020, middle-grade

A middle grade book hasn't made me cry like this in a long time. Review to come - I have a lot of notes to sort out on this one.

We did it. Our class finished reading @peterbrownstudio

We did it. Our class finished reading @peterbrownstudio

...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Play Book Tag: The Wild Robot - Peter Brown (4 stars)	4	11	Feb 18, 2020 10:39AM
Great Middle Grad...: BOTM for January is The Wild Robot	20	49	Feb 16, 2020 08:31AM
Play Book Tag: The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown - 3 stars	2	13	Oct 02, 2018 03:34PM
Play Book Tag: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown - 5 gently glowing stars	8	24	Sep 18, 2018 01:32PM
NZ Intermediate S...: The Wild Robot	1	15	Mar 17, 2017 09:19PM

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About Peter Brown

Peter Brown

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Peter Brown is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books.

"Peter has always loved telling stories. Growing up in New Jersey, he told stories by drawing whimsical characters and scenes from his imagination. Then, as a teenager, he fell ...more

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Quotes from The Wild Robot

“But I do not know how to act like a mother.” “Oh, it’s nothing, you just have to provide the gosling with food and water and shelter, make him feel loved but don’t pamper him too much, keep him away from danger, and make sure he learns to walk and talk and swim and fly and get along with others and look after himself. And that’s really all there is to motherhood!” The” — 6 likes

“I'll tell you what: If I could do it all over again, I'd spend more time helping others. All I've ever done is dig tunnels. Some of them were real beauties too, but they're all hidden underground, where they're no good to anyone but me.” — 5 likes

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