What do you think?
Rate this book
Blip!: TOON Level 1
Using the sparsest vocabulary, Barnaby Richards creates a visually stunning world explored by a robot whose language consists solely of the word "Blip". As readers follow the robot's journey, they will delight in the surreal vistas and remarkable inhabitants of the planet, all while being gently guided through a heartfelt story of finding the familiar in an unfamiliar place.
Barnaby Richards lives in London, where he shares a studio with his wife Alice and their cat Mosca. He has been doodling pictures of his little robot in the margins of notebooks and the corners of pictures for many years. Barnaby was inspired to write Blip! when he felt it was time his robot found a friend.
Barnaby Richards lives in London, where he shares a studio with his wife Alice and their cat Mosca. He has been doodling pictures of his little robot in the margins of notebooks and the corners of pictures for many years. Barnaby was inspired to write Blip! when he felt it was time his robot found a friend.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published September 20, 2016
23 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 11, 2024
BLIPTASTIC! a robot who can only say BLIP! is on an adventure to find friendship. As he travels he makes the acquaintance of some very strange characters! Will he finally find friendship? I could tell you, but I think you will have a great time finding out for yourself (as this is a book for children I am sure if you are reading this you know the answer).
December 4, 2025
This a great really early reader. Tot enjoyed sounding out the simple words and following along with the comic adventure. Neat art.
November 27, 2024
In this story, a robot’s spaceship crash-lands on a strange planet, where he encounters strange creatures, both friendly and scary, and eventually finds a friend. I found this story using the Wakelet provided by this course. It received the Golden Duck Award in 2017. In alignment with modern fantasy, it features a hero who leaves his homeland and travels to a bizarre new world, where he faces the struggles…”
Richards uses a simple three-word vocabulary (“Bleep! Blip! Oops!”) to convey actions. It's a good way to show how punctuation changes the meaning of words. Blip! intertwines words and pictures to make a follow the story of a robot who crash lands on a strange planet. There, he encounters creatures both friendly, scary… and eventually a friend. It follows comic book conventions of sound effects and paneling that students will find engaging. Richards uses a simple three-word vocabulary (“Bleep! Blip! Oops!”) to convey actions.
In the classroom these examples are great ways to model how to punctuate. Because Blip! is a 1st level reader, this story is easily accessible for students in K-1 grades to read independently. Blip! exposes young readers to the formatting of both graphic novels and science fantasy characters. Students can also make comparisons between the extraordinary world that is the setting of the book and the real world. I think it would be interesting to also see students make connections between the robots feelings and the feelings of someone who is new to a school, country, or state.
Richards uses a simple three-word vocabulary (“Bleep! Blip! Oops!”) to convey actions. It's a good way to show how punctuation changes the meaning of words. Blip! intertwines words and pictures to make a follow the story of a robot who crash lands on a strange planet. There, he encounters creatures both friendly, scary… and eventually a friend. It follows comic book conventions of sound effects and paneling that students will find engaging. Richards uses a simple three-word vocabulary (“Bleep! Blip! Oops!”) to convey actions.
In the classroom these examples are great ways to model how to punctuate. Because Blip! is a 1st level reader, this story is easily accessible for students in K-1 grades to read independently. Blip! exposes young readers to the formatting of both graphic novels and science fantasy characters. Students can also make comparisons between the extraordinary world that is the setting of the book and the real world. I think it would be interesting to also see students make connections between the robots feelings and the feelings of someone who is new to a school, country, or state.
June 3, 2022
Blip! By Barnaby Richards is a simple story about a robot trying to find their way home. The robot’s ship crashes into an unfamiliar planet. The robot doesn’t speak the local language and goes on a journey to find someone or something that can help him find his way home. The robot’s journey ends when he eventually finds a fellow robot, and all the creatures from his journey come to tell him goodbye. Blip! is a sweet story about the struggles of navigating unfamiliar situations while also facing a language barrier. Blip! shows young readers the power of kindness to those that are different from us.
I found this story using the Wakelet provided by this course. It received the Golden Duck Award in 2017. I was interested in reading this story because of the combination of genres associated with the story. This story is a graphic novel and is a science fantasy story. The author created a word that extrapolates scientific understandings and merges those with imaginative experiences. Specifically, Richards has readers traveling through space and crashing on a foreign planet full of monsters, talking plants and other alien creatures.
Blip! is a 1st level reader. Therefore, this story is easily accessible for students in K-1 grades to read independently. This was the most appealing part of the story when I was researching which book to choose. This is an essential, and playful, story primary teachers can incorporate into their classroom libraries. Blip! exposes young readers to the formatting of both graphic novels and science fantasy characters. A suggestion for incorporating instruction would be to have students create text that is appropriate to the wordless pages throughout. Students can also make comparisons between the extraordinary world that is the setting of the book and the real world.
I found this story using the Wakelet provided by this course. It received the Golden Duck Award in 2017. I was interested in reading this story because of the combination of genres associated with the story. This story is a graphic novel and is a science fantasy story. The author created a word that extrapolates scientific understandings and merges those with imaginative experiences. Specifically, Richards has readers traveling through space and crashing on a foreign planet full of monsters, talking plants and other alien creatures.
Blip! is a 1st level reader. Therefore, this story is easily accessible for students in K-1 grades to read independently. This was the most appealing part of the story when I was researching which book to choose. This is an essential, and playful, story primary teachers can incorporate into their classroom libraries. Blip! exposes young readers to the formatting of both graphic novels and science fantasy characters. A suggestion for incorporating instruction would be to have students create text that is appropriate to the wordless pages throughout. Students can also make comparisons between the extraordinary world that is the setting of the book and the real world.
January 2, 2017
Blip is an adorable early reader graphic novel about an adventurous but lonely robot searching for a friend that he can talk to. Along the way, he'll meet up with hungry alien fish, mischievous creatures and even a human astronaut. But alas, none of them understand his 'blips.’
Another success by Toon Books! I love that they support up-and-coming cartoonists as well as little known but in no ways inferior international authors like book creator Barnaby Richards. This is the Londoner’s first book, but his robot creation has been a pet project for years. I hope we’ll see more of him.
One more thing I love about Toon Books is their commitment to raising up the next generation of graphic novel and comics readers through their different levels of reading difficulty. (Check out back for the primer for parents on how to read a graphic novel!) With the simple words and bright colors, this is a perfect book for getting Kindergarten aged and younger children reading.
Another success by Toon Books! I love that they support up-and-coming cartoonists as well as little known but in no ways inferior international authors like book creator Barnaby Richards. This is the Londoner’s first book, but his robot creation has been a pet project for years. I hope we’ll see more of him.
One more thing I love about Toon Books is their commitment to raising up the next generation of graphic novel and comics readers through their different levels of reading difficulty. (Check out back for the primer for parents on how to read a graphic novel!) With the simple words and bright colors, this is a perfect book for getting Kindergarten aged and younger children reading.
October 5, 2016
Great easy reader comic for little kids.
July 25, 2017
I like that it says blip a bunch. It's amazing.
October 21, 2021
Blip! by Barnaby Richards is told mostly through onomatopoeia and illustrations. It shares the story of a robot who crashes his rocket ship in space and is trying to find his way back to his robot friend. He journeys through space and meets many creatures along the way. Some seem friendly while others are not as friendly. At the end, he reaches a rocket ship that his robot friend is working on repairing. The two are excited to see each other and fly away in the rocket ship together. Readers can relate to the theme of searching for someone and the relief felt once they find them. The robots and creatures talk in sounds that seem like something they would say if they truly existed. They do not communicate in full sentences throughout the entire book.
I found this title while searching through the picture book category of the Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children’s Science Fiction. It had won the award in 2017. I listened to the book through a read aloud on YouTube and enjoyed the expression that the reader had while reading the onomatopoeia. Overall, though, I did not love the book. The pictures were interesting, but I sometimes got bored with the repeated words. This book could be an option for a read aloud for a class to show a story through pictures and few words. Students could also create picture books that tell a story similar to this book during a narrative writing unit. With a few picture frames for the beginning, middle, and end of the story, this would work as an activity for grades 2 and up. It could also be a good brainstorming activity before writing out a narrative.
I found this title while searching through the picture book category of the Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children’s Science Fiction. It had won the award in 2017. I listened to the book through a read aloud on YouTube and enjoyed the expression that the reader had while reading the onomatopoeia. Overall, though, I did not love the book. The pictures were interesting, but I sometimes got bored with the repeated words. This book could be an option for a read aloud for a class to show a story through pictures and few words. Students could also create picture books that tell a story similar to this book during a narrative writing unit. With a few picture frames for the beginning, middle, and end of the story, this would work as an activity for grades 2 and up. It could also be a good brainstorming activity before writing out a narrative.
February 3, 2018
Title: Blip!
Author: Barnaby Richards
Level 1 Graphic Novel
Pages: 40
Recommendations and Comments: This is a great graphic novel for younger children. It has very simple words and pictures. In the back of the book, there is a guide for parents to help them understand how to read a graphic novel with their children. If you like graphic novels (or even if you don’t!) and want to get your children reading them, this is the book to start with!
Stars: 4 out of 5
Reviewed by: Jamie
Author: Barnaby Richards
Level 1 Graphic Novel
Pages: 40
Recommendations and Comments: This is a great graphic novel for younger children. It has very simple words and pictures. In the back of the book, there is a guide for parents to help them understand how to read a graphic novel with their children. If you like graphic novels (or even if you don’t!) and want to get your children reading them, this is the book to start with!
Stars: 4 out of 5
Reviewed by: Jamie
November 22, 2019
These TOON in reading books (graphic novels for beginning readers) have so far all been of consistently excellent quality.
This one was particularly fun for my kid as he can participate by reading the frequently repeated "Blip" throughout the book with different expressions depending on the context in the pictures. Plus, it combines robots AND rocketships!
This one was particularly fun for my kid as he can participate by reading the frequently repeated "Blip" throughout the book with different expressions depending on the context in the pictures. Plus, it combines robots AND rocketships!
March 24, 2024
I understand this is a small book intended as an introduction to graphic novels to kids. It wasn't really what I expected it to be, as it was a bit strange that it didn't explain much about what was going on other than the main character only saying one or two phrases at most. It was just okay. It wasn't great by any means but I see the intentions of what it is for.
May 4, 2017
2.5 stars - This nearly wordless book nearly charmed me. The art was interesting. The blips and bleeps were fun to read aloud, but that ending? Just didn't quite work for me.
June 20, 2017
Great introduction to graphic novels for very young kids. Easy read for non or emergent readers.
August 24, 2017
Loved the artwork, but the text left something to be desired.
July 15, 2019
These were charming illustrations and I love spare of word books.
December 19, 2019
My son is 4 and enjoys the graphic novels that tell a story but leave a lot to his own imagination. It gives us lots to talk about each time we read it!
April 2, 2023
This is a cartoon book. I wasn't necessarily a fan of it. It was about this robot looking for another robot.
February 24, 2024
A robot explores, makes 'blip' sounds, and finds a female (?) version of itself.
Robots aren't gendered.
Robots aren't gendered.
July 30, 2016
In an almost wordless book, a robot lands on unfamiliar terrain and then proceeds to explore the area, uttering the word "Blip" throughout his travels. Eventually, he makes his way across all sorts of interesting terrain, led on by the incessant banging sound he hears. When he traces it to its origin, he finds a most pleasant surprise, and the robot is no longer lonely. This graphic novel is creative and humorous as it demonstrates that it isn't always necessary to know the language to be able to communicate or get a message across to others.
October 4, 2016
Meh. Very nearly wordless. Which can work if the action is clear, but in this case it wasn't.
January 29, 2017
This beautifully illustrated book fell down a bit in the storyline department for me - I would've rated it 4* for the great job with graphic design if not for the flat feel to the story.
April 27, 2017
The illustration style was fun, but the story told by the pictures was kinda lame and I didn't really see this working as a reader.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews