I had originally purchased this one for Book Boy to read but the beautiful cover and blurb drew me to it, so I read it first!

When a cargo ship flounders in a fearsome storm, a container of robots empties its contents into a turbulent sea. Many sink, some are eventually dashed to pieces on the rocks surrounding a small island, and one solitary crate gets tossed up onto land.

ROZZUM unit 7134 gets accidentally activated by some curious sea otters and starts to boot up.  At first, Roz struggles to make sense of the strange environment she finds herself in.  She must quickly learn to adapt her behaviour and processing to survive the sometimes harsh conditions of the island and won over its suspicious animal inhabitants.

When a freak accident finds Roz in charge of a gosling who thinks she’s his mama, she soon starts to learn how to be a mother and how to make friends with the island creatures.  Before long, the island starts to feel like home and Roz has built herself a cosy little family.  However, her past isn’t far behind and one day it comes back to haunt her….

I wasn’t expecting this book to grip me or make me emotionally invest in the well-being of a robot, but it did! Although action-packed, ‘The Wild Robot’ is not your typical robot story.  It’s a fabulous exploration of wildness, what it means to feel, of friendship and the true meaning of family.  Peter Brown’s brilliant illustrations add real drama and depth to the story.

A brilliant (and fairly quick) read for anyone aged 7+

Library Girl.