Nova's Ark

by David Kirk

"In his tiny bedroom, high above the city, Nova leaned over his workbench--wrapping, twisting, cutting, clipping. The evening sun glinted off his steel brow, then sank behind the crystal spires of Roton, making them glisten like rubies." So begins David Kirk's futuristic picture book Nova's Ark , the somewhat complex story of a young robot named Nova, whose most precious possession (besides his robot dog "Sparky") is a brittle wooden ark and a set of carved animals made by humans in the ancient days of Roton. Nova misses his dad, who left on a space mission nearly a year ago. He dreams (when plugging himself into the dream console) of flying to the stars with his adventurous father. Exploration, it seems, is "in his wiring." On a school field trip to the Space Center, Nova's world turns upside down. At the pilot's console of the Glax Cruiser, he can't help himself--he pulls the lever and the spaceship roars to life! Before he knows it he is lost and alone in outer space. Weeks pass. Months! One day, in his search for his home planet, he crashes into a mountain on a barren moon and his ship is "There were no signs of robot life. How would he ever get home? Who would take care of his mother? Who would take care of Sparky?" He wondered if this was how his father felt on his lone travels. The next morning he awakes to a cheerful new sun and decides to concoct Sparky number 2 out of the wreckage of his crashed spaceship. He doesn't stop there! He builds a whole menagerie of animals... and last but not least "an elephant ark, whose mighty trunk bellowed a message deep into the 'HELP!'" His distant father evidently hears the call, but crashes in his attempt to find his son, and is seriously injured. Each of Nova's robot animals gives something of itself to revive him... and Nova donates a valve from his own heart. It works! Of course, his dad has kangaroo feet... but he is alive! After many mechanical shenanigans--and a wonderful discovery of crystal energy that means salvation for their planet--they fly home to Roton and are greeted as heroes. Kirk, beloved creator of the Miss Spider books, has produced a masterpiece of 3-D computer imaging so vivid it recalls the set of Toy Story , but the plot twists and turns and dense narrative will demand quite a bit more concentration. (Ages 6 and older; perhaps best for reading aloud) --Karin Snelson

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Robots, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2005

About the author

David Kirk is the creator of children's books that follow the character Miss Spider. Before writing books, he made colorful toys that were sold in hand-painted boxes. He was urged to write children's books when his toys caught the interest of a book packager. It wasn't difficult to figure out what he would use as characters in his stories: his daughter, Violet, had a liking for bugs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_K...


Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't think the story works.

The robots are just like people except they're robots. They apparently eat 3 meals a day (the story explicitly mentions a breakfast and a supper equivalent). They go to bed at night. They go to school.

The father is an explorer, off looking for a mythical energy source.

The boy loves space ships. During a school trip, he accidentally-on-purpose launches himself out into space (can I say something about the bad engineering of both the space ship and the spaceport that allowed this to happen?). His ship eventually crashes into a planet. He survives. Out of boredom, he turns his spaceship into animals matching a Noah's ark toy he had.

Eventually his dad also crashes into the planet (what? why would his dad crash? how did his dad find him?).

They accidentally find the mythological source of endless energy and fly home (I *think* in one of the animals the boy created -- it's kind of unclear to me).

It just leaves too many questions and has too many holes.

[Aura Keaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nova's Ark is a wholesome story about a curious, adventure-seeking young robot boy named Nova who finds himself in outer space all alone. He is distraught waiting for someone to find him, until he decides to teach himself how to fly the ship he accidentally launched into space. After awhile, Nova is marooned on an unknown planet, but makes the best of his situation by reimagining his broken spaceship into an ark, when someone or something falls from the sky, crash-landing nearby. This event changes the fate that had befallen him.

Author David Kirk creates -- in a very short story -- a rich robot world with a nod to the humans who built them. Nova is a lovable character who "grows up" (just a little), giving the readers hope for the possibility of a thoughtful robot future.

[Paul Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork in the book is really fun, full of color and wierd 1950's looking robots and spaceships. The story concerns a little robot on a world (presumably Earth in the far, far future when robots are the only being remaining; the animals are Earth animals, yet the planet is called Roton--there is no explanation) who yearns to venture through space like his father. There is consideration here for how the robots reproduce, but they have done this for "generations."

It doesn't work as science fiction, but it does work as fantasy. And the art is true eye-candy. Wonderful!

[Robert Shupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This creative book takes a fun look at both Robots and exploration.
Mr. Kirk covers both writing and illustration duties and creates an entertaining futuristic world.
Curiosity and exploration are values to be encouraged. This rich yarn delivers
Explore away.

[Aaron W. Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations rock! I read this to my 5-year old son last night. He enjoyed it. It does have some holes in the story (as other reviewers have mentioned), but it stands on its own just fine. It is a beautiful story about sacrifice and familial love.

[Liisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Kirk is a great author of children's books. My kids and I love the story, the characters, and illustration art.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly they try but I feel like they literally threw darts at a board for the story

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This kid's book has phenomenal illustrations. The colors are vibrant and I half expected characters and objects to pop off the page.

The story was ok. At times the narration seemed really choppy, as if some parts were missing. When I read the description on the back cover and discovered that this reissue features "an abridged version of the original story," that choppiness made sense. Your four-year-old might not be able to tell that this is an abridged version, but I knew something was up.

The target audience for this book is a four to six year old (I'm actually just guessing here), especially one who likes robots and adventure.

[Rosa Cline]

I started reading this to my 2 year old granddaughter and she lost intrest in it pretty quickly... the story didn't keep my attention either. HOWEVER, it's not a bad story. If I liked robots and technology etc then it would have caught and kept my attention. So any child that likes this type of thing would enjoy this book.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very neat book, but I feel like younger children would not find it interesting. This would be better for older students, such as 3rd grade or higher. The images are great, and the color works well too. Kirk did a great job composing this book, and is very creative.

[Hajnal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very imaginative!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leo loved this book. It has bright bold illustrations and a great story about a robot who likes to make robot pets. He also manages to save his father.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing 3-D images!! A creative and colorful story.

[Robin Raines-Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

If "Exploration is in your wiring", you will enjoy this beautifully illustrated story.