Clink by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Matthew Myers. Poor Clink is a rusty old broken down robot in a shop full o'bots that are newer, flashier, zippier, and bigger. Many a child comes in to choose a robot and glosses right over Clink. Who wants a robot that used to toast bread and sing old fashioned songs? (Do robots sing?)
One day a boy comes in looking at the robots, finding none to his liking despite the shopkeeper's slick salesmanship. Then the boy sees Clink, and something in Clink comes alive (in a robot sort of way) again, awakening the music within him that had long ago fallen silent. As Clink gets more excited, his rusty old parts fail him and he sort of self-destructs. That seals the deal for Clink, as the boy came looking for a *project* -- something to tinker with, not something to entertain him. He finds that in Clink.
The younger lad of course is drawn to all the neat-looking robots of Myers' creation, but what resonates with me is the aspect of tinkering/creating/repurposing/refurbishing what already exists rather than trashing it in favor of something new and shiny. It's a sort of "green" message, but not in a overt or off-putting way. As the story ends, we see the boy tinkering with Clink and dreaming up ideas for projects to work on with his dad, which further endears the story to us, as around here the dad likes to tinker in the garage -- often with the lads close by.
Ms. DiPucchio's most recent book is Crafty Chloe, which is another story of using one's talent and imagination to craft just the right thing.
Robots are endless possibilities, at least to our younger lad. They're an ideal outlet for his amazing imagination. For a book to inspire such creativity, that's a rare find.
No comments:
Post a Comment