Robot Zombie Frankenstein! (review)

Two robots meet and then engage in a game of one-upmanship, as they face off under an cumulative array of goofy horror guises. When the larger robot exits and reappears as a "Robot ZOMBIE!" (complete with head wound, dripping blood, and fallen-off hand), for example, the smaller robot exclaims, "Yikes. Robot reboot" and goes off to fetch a "Robot zombie Frankenstein!" costume. This continues until a standoff occurs when both robots dress as "Robot zombie Frankenstein pirate super hero-in-disguise outer space invader CHEF!" However, while one wields a pie, the other brandishes a fork, and a truce is achieved as they discard their costumes and bond over pastry: "Robot . . . buddies? Mmm . . . affirmative." Simon's digitally created illustrations utilize various geometric shapes in electric colors to create the robots and their regalia; an opening spread displays many of the shapes used throughout the book, labeled with the shape names, while the closing spread shows the same display of shapes, this time labeled as the various robot parts they depicted, such as "robot face" for a yellow square and "pie-ready mouth" for a large black circle. The story itself is bit limp, and the flat constructions are occasionally so cluttered that an audience may have trouble making sense of them. The concept is an entertaining one, though, and the geometric nature of the illustrative components make this a possibly useful companion to a math or art lesson. Kids (particularly boys) will respond to the robots, zombies, etc., to the "Oh yeah? Top this!" tone, and to the inviting possibility of designing their own similar robot illustrations using geometric shapes.