NanoBots

Gall (the Dinotrux books) introduces miniature robots with infinite potential for adventures on and off the page. A “great inventor”—later pictured as a confident boy in round eyeglasses—builds the microscopic NanoBots, which have specialized shapes and functions. (Unlike the mostly-male Dinotrux, the NanoBots often are described with feminine pronouns.) MechanoBots, with various pincers and tools, “can fix anything, even in the hardest-to-reach places.” ChewBots, smaller than a paperclip and resembling golden garbage cans, eat pink bubblegum and other “nasty, icky stuff” to keep rooms clean. MediBot, a silver-white doctor, banishes “germy invaders” from a nostril, and a steely Lady Lance-o-Bot keeps garden insects away from tomatoes. At a creators’ convention, the NanoBots team up to repair a human-size robot, yet receive no recognition because they are “too small to be seen” by the judges, cementing ideas that small can be mighty and a job done well is its own reward. Gall’s precise illustrations, metallic palette, and ready-for-action heroes should captivate the imaginations of mechanically minded readers, as will closing notes about real-life uses of nanotechnology. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Aug.)