The youngest of three children, Lillian Hoban was born in Philadelphia on May 18, 1925. She attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, studied dance for ten years (and danced with the Martha Graham dancers), taught Modern Dance and danced professionally in the 1950s. She learned to draw still life and began to write her own stories only after having children (Phoebe, Brom, Esme and Julia), and based her tales on their experiences.
Lillian Hoban's I-Can- Read-Books about Arthur the Chimpanzee, and the Frances books (written by her former husband Russell Hoban) continue to be extremely popular among children as time goes by- the hallmark of classics.
I guess? Whatever it takes to get kids to read, even if it's a bunch of pseudo-robotic jargon disguising a story about children learning to cooperate to get jobs done.
I just read this to my 5 year old and it was a lot of fun. I found it in my parents library. I’d forgotten all about it.
It was interesting for me to learn that this was (as far as I can tell) a one-off story, no part of a series. The characters and the world seemed like part of a larger series, in a good way. The little robot kids seem immediately familiar. I’d read 100 more of these!
I’d actually recommend this as a good thing to read, especially if you are a storyteller who wants a good example of world-building and show-don’t-tell writing. Great little book.