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From Booklist

September 26, 2023
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Everyone's favorite robot is back! Cue the environmentally friendly confetti cannons! After adapting to island life in The Wild Robot (2016) and surviving the dangers of the city in The Wild Robot Escapes (2018), Roz faces her biggest challenge yet. Alarming rumors about a "Poison Tide" have reached Roz's island home, carried by animals fleeing its toxic touch. When the deadly waters reach the island's shore, withering plants and killing fish, the animals work together to save their sea-dwelling friends by moving them inland to a pond. The strain of close quarters and more limited resources begins to take its toll on the residents, however, especially when combined with the pervasive fear caused by this new threat. A small mishap leads Roz to discover that not only is she waterproof, but the Poison Tide doesn't hurt her. Determined to find the source of the tide and stop it, Roz swims forth to meet the unknown enemy. The stakes feel even higher in this third adventure, as Brown smoothly incorporates real-world themes of climate change and human-caused pollution without turning the book into a "problem novel." Action and epic confrontations keep the plot swimming along, but there are meaningfully punctuated moments of humor and kindness. Roz continues to learn and grow, and Brown's superb illustrations make her journey truly unforgettable.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Kirkus

September 15, 2023
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry. When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone's survival. Brown's tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters--including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing--she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown's rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz's heroism and peacemaking that save the day. Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2019
Roz (The Wild Robot) has a new life as a farm robot, but nice as everyone is there, she longs to return to her island and her goose-son, Brightbill. With obstacles predictably paced and easily overcome, this sequel lacks tension, but gentle Rozs fans will be happy to see that she gets home. Spot and full-page grayscale illustrations once again add to the story's atmosphere.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Publisher's Weekly

March 12, 2018
In the thought-provoking sequel to Brown's middle-grade debut, The Wild Robot, the adventure picks up as the resilient Roz (short for ROZZUM unit 7134) is repaired and shipped off to Hilltop Farm. With its domesticated animals and whirring machines, the dairy farm is a far cry from the remote island that the robot has come to call home. Though her owner, Mr. Shareef, and his two children come to embrace Roz as part of the family, she is desperate to make her way back to the island and her adopted gosling son, Brightbill. Seeking their help, Roz confides in the Shareef children that she is not like other robots and asks them, "Is being different the same as being defective?" The robot's odysseyâ€Â"which brings her from the countryside to the big city, where she comes face-to-face with her designerâ€Â"raises poignant quandaries about the nature of love and selfhood. While such questions remain unresolved, Roz emerges as a striking symbol of humanity for the very reason that she poses and ponders them. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management

From School Library Journal

Starred review from March 1, 2018

Gr 3-6-The lovable robot, Roz (The Wild Robot), was last seen being ripped away from her goose son, Brightbill, and hauled unwillingly back to the factory for the Makers to repair and reassign her. She is reactivated on Hilltop Farm, where Mr. Shareef expects her to tend to farm duties, including caring for the many cows and making repairs around the farm. She is programmed to obey orders, including those from Mr. Shareef's children, Jaya and Jad. Roz is homesick for her prior life on the remote island with her goose son, and all of her other animal friends, but she feels trapped, and fears Mr. Shareef will find out her secret-that she is "defective" and able to think, plan, and speak the languages of the animals. Roz is torn: while she enjoys helping on the farm and spending time with the children, she desires a reunion with her son even more. With the children's help and blessing, and the cows' assistance, Roz develops an escape plan. Readers need not have read the first installment to enjoy this sequel, though fans will root for Roz and Brightbill's reunion. Brown's illustrative talent is featured in black-and-white drawings throughout. VERDICT Science fiction meets fantasy in this delightful sequel that gives readers a unique look into what technology could someday have in store. A must-buy for any middle grade collection.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

February 15, 2018
Roz, a robot who learned to adapt to life among wild creatures in her first outing, seeks to return to the island she calls home.Brown's sequel to The Wild Robot (2016) continues an intriguing premise: What would happen to a robot after challenges in an unexpected environment cause it to evolve in unusual ways? As this book opens, Roz is delivered to a farm where she helps a widower with two young children run a dairy operation that has been in his family for generations. Roz reveals her backstory to the cows, who are supportive of the robot's determination to return to the island and to her adopted son, the goose Brightbill. The cows, the children, and finally Brightbill himself come to Roz's aid. The focus on Roz's escape from human control results in a somewhat solemn and episodic narrative, with an extended journey and chase after Roz leaves the farm. Dr. Molovo, a literal deus ex machina, appears near the end of the story to provide a means of rescue. She is Roz's designer/creator, and, intrigued by the robot's adaptation and evolution but cognizant of the threat that those achievements might represent to humans, she assists Roz and Brightbill in their quest. The satisfactory (if inevitable-feeling) conclusion may prompt discussion about individual agency and determination, whether for robots or people.If not as effervescent as Roz's first outing, it is still a provocatively contemplative one. (Fiction. 8-11)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Booklist

Starred review from January 1, 2018
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Brown merely whetted readers' appetites for adventure with the exploits of kind, brave Roz in The Wild Robot (2016), particularly given the robot's dramatic departure from her island home. In this stellar sequel, Roz powers up, repaired and with memories intact, on a family farm, which she has been purchased to run. While she gives every appearance of being a normal robot, Roz constantly dreams of returning home. By speaking with animals, Roz gets word of her plight to a young goose named Brightbill, her adoptive son, and he flies to her rescue. With the help of the farmer's children, Roz and Brightbill flee, but their success is far from assured. Wolves, watery expanses, bustling cities, and old enemiesthe RECO robotsall stand in their way, and Brown's protagonists confront each in exhilarating and heart-stopping ways. Warmth and gentleness course through the novel, even as dangers emerge. Roz isn't programmed for violence, and the narrator acts as an honest and reassuring friend who periodically breaks from storytelling to explain difficult truths to young readers. The novel's near-future setting gives rise to questions pertaining to the division between humans and machines as well as the idea that different isn't the same as defective. Though illustrations were unavailable for review, Brown's artistic talents should only elevate his exceptional conclusion to Roz's saga. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Wild Robot was a runaway success, so expect nothing less of its sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

From School Library Journal

December 1, 2016

Gr 3-7-Though Roz, a robot, is initially viewed with suspicion when she finds herself on an isolated island, she soon becomes part of the natural order, parenting an orphaned gosling and providing shelter for the animals. But is there really a place for her within this ecosystem? Interspersed with charming black-and-white illustrations, this sweetly quirky fish-out-of-water tale will have readers contemplating questions about life, death, consciousness, and artificial intelligence.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2016
Robot ROZZUM unit 7134--"Roz"--crashes ashore a deserted island. She gradually acclimates herself to life in the wild among the island's creatures, who themselves must adjust to her. Very short chapters, often ending with cliffhangers, make this a natural for classroom reading-aloud. Spot art with grayscale geometric stylization of the natural world lends both mystery and sophistication.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Horn Book

May 1, 2016
When five shipping crates from a doomed ship crash ashore on a deserted island, only one of them -- containing our robot protagonist -- is lucky enough to survive undamaged. ROZZUM unit 7134 quickly switches herself on, announces that "you may call me Roz," and begins this unlikeliest of Robinsonades. Luckily, Roz has been designed to teach herself and thus gradually acclimates herself to life in the wild among the island's creatures, who themselves must adjust to her. While Brown is honest about the harshness of wilderness life (and informative about the nature and challenges of the island's ecosystem), most of the crises in the book are relatively low-key and managed within a few chapters -- all very short and often ending with cliffhangers, making the book a natural for classroom reading-aloud. The omniscient direct-address prose is simple and declarative, but plenty of emotion is evoked by the characters, even Roz, who claims not to even have emotions, but whose mothering of an orphaned goose tells us different. In his first novel, picture-book creator Brown (Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, rev. 11/13) includes plenty of spot art whose grayscale geometric stylization of the natural world lends both mystery and sophistication to the book's look. A closing assault on the island by robots sent to retrieve Roz is a bit much, but it provides an open ending, or perhaps a hint that a sequel may be in the works. Either way, Roz is not easy to forget. roger sutton

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Kirkus

Starred review from February 1, 2016
A sophisticated robot--with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell--is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500. When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment--not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different "accent"). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz's growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family. At every moment Roz's actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz's benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions--and readers--with hope. Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from January 18, 2016
Brown's middle-grade debut, an uplifting story about an unexpected visitor whose arrival disrupts the animal inhabitants of a rocky island, has a contemporary twist: the main character is a robot. A hurricane deposits Roz (short for ROZZUM unit 7134) on the island, where she is accidentally activated by a group of sea otters, who are terrified by the shiny monster awakening before their eyes. At first, Roz struggles to survive in an environment where she is treated as a frightening intruder, but after she adopts an abandoned gosling, she slowly becomes part of the island community, learning animal language and taking on motherhood and a leadership role. Brown (Mr. Tiger Goes Wild) convincingly builds a growing sense of cooperation among the animals and Roz as she blossoms in the wild. The allegory of otherness is clear but never heavy-handed, and Roz has just enough human attributes to make her sympathetic while retaining her robot characteristics. Brown wisely eschews a happy ending in favor of an open-ended one that supports the tone of a story that's simultaneously unsentimental and saturated with feeling. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8—12. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management.

From School Library Journal

Starred review from January 1, 2016

Gr 3-5-The crate containing ROZZUM unit 7134 wasn't meant to be shipwrecked on an island. Roz is baffled by the wildness of the environment, but her robot brain is programmed to learn and master tasks. She camouflages herself as clumps of seaweed, meadow flowers, and fallen logs to quietly observe and learn from the flora and fauna. Scared of the unknown, the animals initially think she's a monster and run in terror. But Roz rescues a goose egg and reaches out to the animal community for help. Roz and the animals fall into a happy routine, but that bliss is broken by environmental and technological threats to the island. Set in the not-so-distant future, this thoughtful story unfolds slowly, matching Roz's pace as she observes and integrates into island life. The environmental and technological dangers introduced halfway through are impactful; they threaten the tightly knit community so carefully cultivated by Roz and the animals. The character development focuses on Roz and her adopted son, Brightbill. The supporting characters, while less fleshed out, are compelling. Short chapters and read-aloud-worthy third-person narration pair beautifully with Brown's grayscale illustrations. Grounded in striking, eye-catching compositions, his artwork combines geometric shapes and organic forms and textures, providing context and building atmosphere. The open ending leaves readers bereft for Roz and her beloved island, though it is sure to spark discussions about environmental impact and responsibility. VERDICT This strong debut middle grade novel by the acclaimed picture book author/illustrator is a first purchase for most middle grade collections.-Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

Starred review from December 15, 2015
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* In the wake of a hurricane, a crate washes up on an island's shore, where some curious otters tug it open, accidentally pressing a button as they do so. A shiny, new robotROZZUM unit 7134whirs to life. What follows is not a flash-bang robot adventure but a WALL-E-esque tale of wilderness survival and friendship. Roz is clearly not built for life in the wild, but she uses her ability to learn from her surroundings to adapt. By observing the island's animals (who initially think she is a monster), she learns to camouflage herself and eventually speak their language. When she adopts an orphaned gosling, the island's animals finally warm to her. Although there is much about the story that charms, Brown doesn't gloss over the harsher aspects of life in the wildanimals hunt each other and die of exposurebut a logic-driven robot provides the perfect way to objectively observe nature's order. One day a ship arrives, shattering the island's peace and activating Roz's survival instinctsand with good reason. Brown's first attempt at writing for an older audience is a success, and though this Caldecott honoree's final artwork was not seen, his illustrations should certainly enhance the story. Readers will take a shine to Roz, and an open ending leaves room for more robot adventures.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Brown's picture books are consistent best-sellers and critically acclaimed. Expect readers to go wild for his robot-themed novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

From AudioFile Magazine

Amid sounds of crashing waves, seagulls, and otherworldly music, we meet Roz, one robot of many who floats ashore in working condition after her cargo ship sinks. "Hello. My name is Roz," she announces to each creature she meets. Narrator Kate Atwater maintains Roz's robotic voice throughout the book, but as Roz slowly earns membership in the island's animal community and "learns" their values, her machinelike voice gains warmth and friendliness. Atwater also provides fitting and distinctive character voices for each of the island's delightfully named inhabitants, which include ChitChat the squirrel, TrunkTap the woodpecker, and BrightBill--Roz's unlikely son. Even though the book has no humans, the listener will, nevertheless, ponder the nature of humans, the implications of artificial intelligence, and the meaning of being wild. L.T. Winner of AdioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine