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Balloon Toons
Balloon Toons: Zoe and Robot, Let's Pretend
In Ryan Sias's Zoe and RobotLet's Pretend , a young girl tries to teach her robot how to pretend, but how do you use your imagination when you're a robot? Sias's vivid cartoons lend wit and warmth to a funny friendship.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2011
72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 23 reviews
October 31, 2020
This is fun to read aloud, especially if you're willing to do a robot voice. Zoe's friend Robot just can't seem to get the hang of her pretend mountain-climbing expedition! What can she do? Just keep trying, Zoe, it's all going to work out. After digging through the Austin Public Library catalog for awesome picture books about robots and coming up with very little that interested me, and NO female characters in sight, I really appreciated this one. My son was six when we read this, but we could have read it when he was much younger. He then read it to himself repeatedly, and still asked for someone to read it to him additional times.
Want to read
July 1, 2021
January 19, 2020
This was a cute story of a little girl and her robot learning to play pretend. I think Oz got a lot out of it because he has a hard time pretending sometimes. He wanted the robot to learn to pretend too. I think it was an enjoyable read and I'll probably look for more in this series for him!
January 22, 2020
Hilarious colourful comic useful to cultivate the joy of imagination to young kids
October 23, 2020
If you want to finish and start climbing all of the household furniture immediately, for sure read this with your child.
November 23, 2011
Zoe, a young girl, asks Robot, her large robot, to go mountain climbing with her. But when she leads Robot to the mountain, all Robot can see is a pile of pillows. Zoe realizes she must teach her Robot how to pretend.
Zoe tries several ways to teach Robot, but nothing seems to help. Then, almost spontaneously, Robot begins to speak of a pillow as a fluffy cloud and Zoe and Robot are happy.
The book is a graphic novel, with simple text and bright illustrations.
“’Ta-daa! Welcome to Mt. Pillow,’ says Zoe.
‘Robot does not see a mountain,’ says Robot.
‘You need to pretend,’ says Zoe.
‘Zoe, Robot is a robot. Robots do not know how to pretend,’ says Robot.”
Zoe tries several ways to teach Robot, but nothing seems to help. Then, almost spontaneously, Robot begins to speak of a pillow as a fluffy cloud and Zoe and Robot are happy.
The book is a graphic novel, with simple text and bright illustrations.
“’Ta-daa! Welcome to Mt. Pillow,’ says Zoe.
‘Robot does not see a mountain,’ says Robot.
‘You need to pretend,’ says Zoe.
‘Zoe, Robot is a robot. Robots do not know how to pretend,’ says Robot.”
June 19, 2011
This graphic novel for young readers is very fun, combining simple text, colorful cartoon illustrations and a fleshed out story that kids can relate to. Zoe is a young girl who wants to play with her friend Robot. Zoe suggests they go mountain climbing, up a huge pile of pillows. Robot insists time and time again that he can't see any mountain. Reminded me in some ways of Green Eggs and Ham, with a young child trying to coax a grown up to play and try new things. Delightful.
June 3, 2011
Another book in the growing field of graphic novels for beginning readers, this one is cute and clever. A robot can only see what is real, so how can it pretend? Zoe cleverly helps her robot friend learn about make believe. By the end, is he really pretending, or is he only pretending to pretend? Hmmm...
October 26, 2011
Zoe struggles mightily to get her friend Robot to play with her. She quickly learns that his mechanical mind is too literal for make-believe, or is it?
Another great comic book for beginning readers. The illustrations are fabulous and the story does a fantastic job of showing what one child can do with just their imagination.
Another great comic book for beginning readers. The illustrations are fabulous and the story does a fantastic job of showing what one child can do with just their imagination.
December 16, 2011
I won this book from one of the first reads giveaways. This was a very cute book to read to my toddler. She enjoyed the pictures, and that the little girl was able to get the robot to pretend in the end. The author also sent some coloring pages and little postcards along with the book too. My daughter likes the book, and has asked me to read it a few times. It's a win!
June 24, 2014
My daughter and I found this on A Mighty girl's list of graphic novels. We decided to order it and make it a part of our bookshelf. We are glad we did. This is a terrific book about pretending and friendship. My daughter had me read it three times in one night and we are ready to read it again. We love this book.
May 13, 2011
Grades K-1. Robot can't pretend. He takes everything too literally. When Zoe wants to climb a "mountain", all robot can see is a pile of pillows. So Zoe decides to try and teach robot how to use imagination. Very simple graphic novel that is fun to read.
January 21, 2016
I love this early reader graphic novel series. Zoe wants to pretend but Robot doesn't know how to pretend...he is a robot. After many attempts at helping Robot pretend, Zoe is just about to give up but then something surprising happens.
September 1, 2011
I really love the Balloon Toons series; graphic novels for beginning readers. This one, as all of this series that I have read, have humor, are child friendly, and simple yet interesting readers. Zoe teaches Robot how to pretend--not something Robots can do!
December 31, 2013
This is a great book! It has become one of my daughter's favorites to read. The comic book style is appealing and the content is enjoyable and gives us a great reminder to play pretend with our kids!
August 21, 2011
I would have probably only given 3 or 4 stars, but since Chris made me read it 4 times in a row- the 5 star rating is earned. (=
Using a robot voice is strongly encouraged.
Using a robot voice is strongly encouraged.
August 3, 2013
Cute, simple comic style story for primary kids about friendship and imagination.
December 24, 2015
In this book, Zoe tries to teach Robot how to pretend. The illustrations, story, and even the fonts are great fun!
November 17, 2016
Cute book
December 26, 2016
Super cute, and will be a good addition to the collection, but I don't feel like I can use for a PreK/K robot lesson after I just got through explaining how robots are different from humans.
July 11, 2011
How do you get a robot to pretend?
January 17, 2012
fun little story. Ian (4 years old) even managed to read a few words with context help.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 23 reviews