Spacebot

When a UFO descends from an inky sky to land in a dog’s backyard one night, the yellow pup believes it has found a new friend: the robot that trots out is canine-like, though its snout does feature a mysteriously glowing red ball. But the robot couldn’t care less about its earthly counterpart (“ ‘Can we play?’/Walks away”); it’s looking for the home’s bevy of instantly familiar electronic appliances. “Spacebot’s here!!!” exclaim the now fully animated blender, can opener, fridge, toaster, microwave, and vacuum cleaner, all wearing delighted expressions. As the only flesh-and-blood character looks on with a hangdog expression (“Pup’s left out./ Starts to pout”), Spacebot supercharges the gadgets so they can fly around the sky like carefree daredevils (“Loopty-loop./ Beep-beep-boop!”). Twohy’s (Stop, Go, Yes, No!) cheery, buoyant space oddity taps into fantasies of inanimate objects coming to life, while the couplet-based text offers emerging readers simple but rollicking rhymes that encourage word recognition. And even the doggy gets its zero-gravity day (or rather, night) thanks to a parting gift. Ages 4–8. [em](May) [/em]