Mea en Goer ear eat rt tom caer ast \ emma ae ia CNM ee eer m malta maple das LITTLE ROBOTS Carolyn Crimi Manta by Corinna Lugren On sale October 1, 2019 HC: 978-0-7636.9493-7, 516.99 (521.99 CAN) Also available at an ebook Agee 8-12 + 240 pages is the author of several books for children, includ- ing Where's My Mummy?, Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates, and There ‘Might Be Lobsters. Weird Little Robots is her first novel. She lives in Illinots. #weirdlittlerobots Nine-year-old Penny Rose has just moved to a new town, and so far the robots she builds herself are her only company. But with just a bit of magic, everything changes: she becomes best friends with Lark, has the chance to join a secret science club, and discovers that her robots are alive. Penny Rose hardly remembers how lonely she used to feel, But then a fateful misstep forces her to choose between the best friend she’s always hoped for and the club she's always dreamed of, and in the end it may be her beloved little robots that pay the price. Quitky and wonderful, this illustrated chapter book from Carolyn Crimi and Corinna Luyken shows that making your own space and a true friend in the world is a kind of magic all its own. is the author- illustrator of The Book of Mistakes. She lives with her husband and daughter in Olympia, Washington. <= e CCANDLEWICK PRESS ‘wcandlewickeomA Note from Carolyn Crimi Weird Little Robots came to me like most of my stories do: sn bits and pieces. One day a friend posted a picture of a miniature robot on Facebook, and that got me thinking about Zeroids. I remember watching commercials for these weird little toy robots called Zeroids when Iwas ten oF So. In the commercials they zoomed around, locking like they were having the time of theit lives. I'd stare at the TV and fantasize about how, if | owned them, Yd have them follow me around everywhere—at the mall, school, the grocery store. “They'd be like little metal puppies ‘After months of begging, 1 got two Zerolds for my birthday 1 remember that new-toy smell as I opened the boxes. I was thrilled, Unfortunately they were lame, cheap toys, and they both broke a few hours Jater, Looking back on it, I new realize that what my lonely ten-year-old self really wanted was for them to be alive. Those memories of the Zerotds and the loneliness felt as a child got me thinking about what It would be like if they really had come alive, and Weird Little Robots was born