I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received.

Here’s what I imagine Chris Gall thinking as he sat down to write and illustrate Nanobots: What do I like better than robots?  Maybe a robot superhero?  But not just one, no!  A whole bunch of them!  Yes!  That sounds good!  And what if instead of them being big they’re super tiny.  So tiny you can’t even see them, but you know, they’re there and they can save people and no one even knows!   Let’s make them nano-sized. We can have SeekerBots, MechanoBots, HeloBots, ChewBots, MediBots, Lady Lance-O-Bot, and others! And let’s have a young boy create these bots and these bots will save the day at a science fair! Then they’ll learn that have even more missions and adventures ahead! Perfect! 

You can tell he probably had as much fun creating this book as we’ve had reading it and rereading it (and rereading it and rereading it).

Nanobots has to be my sons’ most read and requested book for the past two months.  My two-year-old son loves Nanobots so much that he takes it with him from room to room and can name each of the bots and what they do.  Woe betide me if I make a mistake in reading or get a character’s name wrong when asking my sons what they think of the book. Both my sons take Nanobots very seriously and it is hilarious and wonderful watching them discuss and argue which bot did what and then what happened.  My six-year-old son has contemplated out lout which nanobot would be better at fighting stormtroopers and which would be better at neutralizing zombies.  Nanobots is a fun combination of everything my children love and reminds me a lot of William Joyce’s works — a sort of The Leaf Men meets The Mischievians meets George Shrinks — but with robot superheros.

While the inventor is white male, many of the bots are female or have a they/them pronoun.  MediBot has a she pronoun and is a medical bot. Lady Lance-o-Bot, another she, is a knight that protects the super solar greenhouse. BinoBot, also a she, has powerful robo-eyes and solves mysteries.  The rest of the nanobots have they/them pronouns applied to them. The judges of the science fair are different races and genders. I appreciate that the female bots are strong and capable.  Only one robot, the robot that needs saving and is not a nanobot is male.  It’s sublet and well done, but definitely makes a difference.   My eldest declared that I was most like Lady Lance-O-Bot because I like to be in the garden and I’m good with a lightsaber.  (I’ll take it.)

The artwork is fantastic.  Each page has lots of action, bright and bold colors with strong lines, and enough details that it encourages kids to ask a lot of questions and simultaneously apply their own ideas and imagination to the story.

Nanobots is a big win and a lot of fun for the whole family.

Recommended Ages 4 to 8. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. August 2016. 40 pages. ISBN: 978-0316375528 Fiction.

Where to Get it:

• [Affiliate Link]: Amazon.com 
• [Independent Bookstore]: Indiebound.org
• [Library]: Worldcat.org

Author and Illustrator Websites:

• Chris Gall

More Reviews:

• Kirkus Reviews
• Publishers Weekly
• School Library Journal
• Children’s Atheneum
• Youth Services Book Review

 Book Trailer:

Where Obtained:  I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links and others are IndieBound affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase something, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Which goes to fund my family’s picture book habit.  It’s a vicious cycle, but we manage.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”