The Lost Robot by Joe Todd-Stanton (The Comet) is a heartwarming, heartfelt children's picture book. Through charming art and one endearing robot's peregrination, it highlights the beauty in broken things and the importance of self-love.
The titular robot does not know why it has awoken in a pile of garbage, its display cracked and one arm missing, but it knows this must be a mistake. It wanders past "decaying machines" and "abandoned spaceships" to reach a city. There, the robot remembers having a friend. After a bit of creative mending to look presentable, it finds the boy it once belonged to--the child with whom it enjoyed quests and hugs and stories--only to discover the boy now has a "new best friend." Visibly dejected, the robot returns to the rubbish heap, "exactly where it was supposed to be." Days turn into weeks, into months, and then years, when a mother and daughter come to the dump in search of broken things to repair.
Readers will likely empathize with the lost robot through its quirky tilted-head expressions and the detailed, emotionally cued backdrops. Color-packed Miyazaki-reminiscent scenes give way to somber shadows in the junkyard, then shine with natural light once more as the robot is taken "through the countryside" to a new home. A dusty, graffiti-filled marketplace with dystopian vibes and a tech-heavy city of sterile high-rises and homes are followed by sunny mountain vistas and star-filled skies, providing clever worldbuilding and suggesting all green spaces are not lost. This warming and comforting story exudes hope of many kinds. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer