Robot Burp Head Smartypants

by Annette Simon, Annette Simon (Illustrator)

Overview

Annette Simon’s rival robots are back with a new game of nutty and bolty — or is that burpy? — one-upmanship.

Robot and Robot are thirsty. How about a big gulp of engine oil? Ga-lugg! Guzzle! Mmm, mmm — BurrRRRP! Oops! Pardon me! Of cour —Burrrrrp! — ourse! Oh, pardon me!
On your mark, get set, belch! The green and purple robots from Robot Zombie Frankenstein! are back for a second round of "Top This" games! Burp to ten? Easy! Burp the alphabet? No sweat! Burp by tens while blindfolded, juggling, and skateboarding? Yikes! Reluctant readers won’even notice that they’re learning as they laugh out loud at the wacky antics of these irreverent robotic pals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763665821
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Annette Simon was once an advertising creative director who wrote and art-directed national print and TV campaigns. Now she’s an author-illustrator who creates picture books. Annette Simon lives in Florida.

Editorial Reviews

12/09/2013
The geometric robots from Robot Zombie Frankenstein! (2012) return, and their competitive spirit is undiminished. This time, they’re embroiled in a motor oil–fueled belching contest, giving readers a crash course in numbers and letters as they cram as much verbiage as possible into their burps. “Brrr—1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-20-30-40-50-A-B-C-D—rrrp!” booms the magenta robot at one point, juggling apples blindfolded while riding a skateboard, to boot. Simon’s storytelling and artwork continue to be an unlikely (and effective) combination of pared-down restraint and hyperbolic spontaneity, and of course it’s hard to go wrong with the subject of bodily emissions. Ages 4–8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2014
K-Gr 2—Adorable robots use motor oil to burp their way through recitations of the alphabet, a string of numbers, and "Old MacDonald." They crash and pause to hear the "Brrrrrp" of a passing baby. While the artwork is compelling and distinctive, the target age group for this book is more inclined to discover this process for themselves than to hear or read it in a book. Denise Fleming's rousing Shout! Shout It Out! (Holt, 2011) supports spirit with civility and Amy Dyckman's Boy + Bot (Knopf, 2012) is a clever celebration of robotics. Simon's book seems pointless and is a tremendous waste of beautiful illustrations.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI

School Library Journal

2013-11-18
The mechanical rivals of Robot Zombie Frankenstein! (2012) go for the full "alphabelch" in this effervescent return. Fueled, as it were, by cans of tasty motor oil, the friendly burp-off begins with polite apologies, then escalates into cumulating strings of numbers, followed by numbers and letters and finally a full chorus of "Old-MacDonald-had-a-farm-E-I-E-I--rrrp!" Simon adds visual funny business by depicting her belching 'bots skateboarding across the plain white pages while balancing teetering piles of apples atop their heads. She brings the romp to a climax with a humongous, full-spread-filling "Brrrrrp" emitted by a tiny human baby passing in the background. Remarks one robot admiringly: "Her database needs work, but her speakers? A-1!" Complementing an opening spread filled with numerals from 1 to 10 and then by 10s to 100, an equally colorful set of the 26 letters in the "REAL alphabelch" closes this minimalist crowd pleaser with further opportunities to help the diapered set leave pre-numeracy and preliteracy behind. A lot of eructation, with a little education. (Picture book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews