The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

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The Wild Robot is a touching tale of how a robot ends up washed on a wild island and learns how to survive. More than that, she learns to belong and thrive amongst the wild animals. It's a story that teaches acceptance, kindness, family, friendship, responsibility, and considers what could happen when a robot and the natural world collide together. The author leaves a wonderful note about the story at the end, giving a glimpse into his creative ideas and the story development.

I first discovered this sweet story from a list of book recommendations that boys would like to read/listen to. At the time of writing, my son (aged 7) and daughter (aged 4) really enjoyed it, so much so that we read multiple chapters together. The chapters are short – some only a page in length, which made it great to pause, carry on, digest, and discuss. We read this book as part of our read aloud time together. I particularly loved putting on a robot voice with a slight American accent… We usually have a mid-morning snack and a story, which is a winning combination!

Our favourite characters are:

🤖 Roz the robot
🪿 Brightbill the goose
🤖🤖🤖 The RECO robots

My son's favourite parts:

📖 The migration where Brightbill comes back to the island with the flock and back to Roz.
📖 The battle between the RECO robots, Roz and the wild creatures.

My daughter's favourite part:

📖 Roz taking care of Brightbill.

We went to the Bath Children’s Literature Festival where my son and I sat in on a talk with the author Peter Brown. He shared more about how The Wild Robot came to be, including its film adaptation (which we have yet to watch). He also did a live illustration on how to draw our very own Roz robot which was a bonus! An author/illustrator is a winning combination for sure and just gives me a deeper appreciation for this book.

Author Peter Brown at the Bath Children's Literature Festival 2025 doing a live demonstration of drawing Roz the robot from The Wild Robot.

I am currently reading the sequel The Wild Robot Escapes which shares all of the charm, adventure, and delight of the first book. I’ll probably write about it here when we have finished it. There is also a final book called The Wild Robot Protects which is waiting in the wings on my son’s bookshelf.

Peter Brown reading through The Wild Robot On The Island, a picture book version of his bestselling book, The Wild Robot

Publisher: Piccadilly Press