Franky

December 14, 2015
Sam is certain that robots live “on a faraway planet”; unable to persuade his parents (or parrot) that this is true, he builds a robot buddy of his own. His raw materials include a canister vacuum, rake, swing-arm lamp, and vintage radio, so the robot’s name, Franky, is more than a little suggestive of its patchwork, Frankensteinian origin. Timmers (Bang) includes midcentury details throughout, creating an atomic-age sense of wonder and excitement about robots and outer space: Franky talks in molecules, and his adventures with Sam include watching a b&w film strip about UFOs and sculpting a giant robot out of sand. When Sam is proven right, and a disc-shaped spaceship full of robots arrives on Earth, it’s a wonderfully touching, E.T.-worthy moment as the friends realize they must part. Even more interesting, the extraterrestrial robots look exactly like Franky—rake arms, vacuum hose necks, radio heads, and all. On top of delivering a tender, funny friendship story, Timmers leaves readers with the impression that Sam’s creativity and faith have allowed him to tap into a truth far bigger than himself. Ages 2–6.

January 15, 2016
Young Sam knows that robots live on their own planet in outer space. Timmers, a Belgian, gives colors of tooth-cracking radiance to his comical characters, setting them against fields of luminous white. Sam, a little dark-haired white boy, is nuts about robots. He thinks they live on a faraway planet. His family pooh-poohs him: "You watch too much TV, son," says his mother. Only the old radio--the kind that sort of looks like a robot's head--agrees: "Everybody knows that!" So Sam sets about building a robot who will understand him, a wonderful contraption made out of a vacuum cleaner, garden tools, lamp stands, a fan, and guess what for a head? Eh voila--Franky: Franky who plays robots with Sam, Franky who speaks in what looks like molecular models, Franky who is a barrel of fun until one day he stands looking out the window at the sky. That night, an army of Frankys arrives in a spaceship to take him home. One could mine this book for subtexts--imaginary friends, the creator of life having to let it go, and the simple truth that extraterrestrial beings are made out of Electrolux canisters--but its surface qualities are equally, if not more than, adequate for high entertainment purposes. An imaginative and visual pleasure as well as confirmation that spaceships don't beep and blink but sound like spring cleaning. (Picture book. 4-8)

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February 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-Sam, a boy infatuated with robots, is driven by his desire to prove that robots live on another planet and are just waiting to visit Earth. The cartoon artwork draws readers into the story with vivid graphic design in retro hues, creating an atmosphere of toys from the past. The simple text is enhanced by illustrations that extend the story, filling the space with the strong passions of Sam and his collection of robots and all things space and science fiction. Dialogue is conveyed in colorful text bubbles, exposing both the story line and the emotions of the characters. Once Sam and his robot realize it is time for the robot to go "home," the blue background spread conveys their friendship in both speech bubbles with Sam mirroring the robot's dialogue (done in lines and circles), balanced on the adjacent page by a tear-filled hug between the two friends as they say goodbye. Smart use of white space, along with well-balanced placement of text and illustrations, offers a fun, robot-filled friendship tale. VERDICT This well-crafted picture book will appeal to all young inventors who just want to believe in the impossible.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI

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