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Spacebot
When a mysterious visitor arrives in the night from outer space, it’s up to the family dog to determine if they’re friend or foe.
One quiet evening, a dog is settling down inside his family’s house when a strange rumbling emerges from the sky. Electric energy surges and makes everything start to vibrate, including the family dog. When he darts outside to investigate, a UFO appears. Beep! Beep! Is it friend or foe?
One quiet evening, a dog is settling down inside his family’s house when a strange rumbling emerges from the sky. Electric energy surges and makes everything start to vibrate, including the family dog. When he darts outside to investigate, a UFO appears. Beep! Beep! Is it friend or foe?
48 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2020
39 people want to read
About the author
Mike Twohy
10 books10 followersMIKE TWOHY
Cartoonist Mike Twohy has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine for over three decades. He has also drawn cartoons for a wide variety of other publications (from Ranger Rick to The National Law Journal) and created a syndicated panel, That’s Life, which found humor in everyday situations. The most recent of several books he has illustrated is titled Teaching Opera, the Role of the Opera Workshop, a project close to his heart since his wife, Linda, is a violinist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and he became an opera fan years ago.
A compulsive doodler from an early age, Mike’s career actually began when, as a kid growing up in Northern California, he wrote and illustrated a neighborhood newspaper complete with full comics page, each strip drawn in a different style. In high school he drew a weekly sports cartoon for The Palo Alto Times and later, while majoring in art at San Jose State University, worked as an illustrator of math and reading workbooks. He went on to earn an M.F.A. degree in painting from the University of California at Berkeley with the intention of continuing to paint and possibly teach, but became addicted to freelancing after selling his first cartoons to magazines.
Mike became an avid storyteller when his children were young, entertaining them nightly with bedtime stories and daily with “funky chicken” lunchbox cartoons. His first picture book is scheduled to be released by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster in the Spring of 2011 and is about a shy pig named Poindexter who likes to read.
He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, cat, and Newfoundland.
PIPPIN PROPERTIES, INC. 155 EAST 38TH STREET, SUITE 2H NEW YORK, NY 10016 212 338 9310
Cartoonist Mike Twohy has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine for over three decades. He has also drawn cartoons for a wide variety of other publications (from Ranger Rick to The National Law Journal) and created a syndicated panel, That’s Life, which found humor in everyday situations. The most recent of several books he has illustrated is titled Teaching Opera, the Role of the Opera Workshop, a project close to his heart since his wife, Linda, is a violinist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and he became an opera fan years ago.
A compulsive doodler from an early age, Mike’s career actually began when, as a kid growing up in Northern California, he wrote and illustrated a neighborhood newspaper complete with full comics page, each strip drawn in a different style. In high school he drew a weekly sports cartoon for The Palo Alto Times and later, while majoring in art at San Jose State University, worked as an illustrator of math and reading workbooks. He went on to earn an M.F.A. degree in painting from the University of California at Berkeley with the intention of continuing to paint and possibly teach, but became addicted to freelancing after selling his first cartoons to magazines.
Mike became an avid storyteller when his children were young, entertaining them nightly with bedtime stories and daily with “funky chicken” lunchbox cartoons. His first picture book is scheduled to be released by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster in the Spring of 2011 and is about a shy pig named Poindexter who likes to read.
He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, cat, and Newfoundland.
PIPPIN PROPERTIES, INC. 155 EAST 38TH STREET, SUITE 2H NEW YORK, NY 10016 212 338 9310
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 14, 2020
Meh. My 4yo is obsessed with robots but he wasn't impressed with this one. The household items coming to life are a little creepy.
March 21, 2021
What a great read-aloud. The rhyme and rhythm of this story can't be missed. Please, please read this aloud to your own kids and classrooms of children. Spacebot is a MUST HAVE, MUST READ picture book!
Late one night, strange sounds. A pup looks up and spots a UFO! When the strange, rumbly ship lands, pup runs to greet a space robot dog just like him. He wants to play with the new entity but it has other ideas. Suddenly the household appliances want to hang out with the robot dog. Poor pup feels left out as the mechanicals have a great party flying around the back yard. When it's time for Spacebot to leave, he tosses Pup a red ball. Pup puts it on his nose and now he looks like Spacebot, but that's not all. Pup discovers his ball is magic.
Spacebot gave his friend a great gift until his return trip soon.
Easy rhymes, fun to say and lots of white space give this book its charm. Young readers will soon be able to read the story on their own, but it's much more fun with a crowd. Pup may be my favorite character in a picture book. He's WONDERFUL! Kudos to Mike Twohy for creating an interesting, unique and charming story sure to captivate all readers.
Highly recommended! All pre-school and up. So creative!
Late one night, strange sounds. A pup looks up and spots a UFO! When the strange, rumbly ship lands, pup runs to greet a space robot dog just like him. He wants to play with the new entity but it has other ideas. Suddenly the household appliances want to hang out with the robot dog. Poor pup feels left out as the mechanicals have a great party flying around the back yard. When it's time for Spacebot to leave, he tosses Pup a red ball. Pup puts it on his nose and now he looks like Spacebot, but that's not all. Pup discovers his ball is magic.
Spacebot gave his friend a great gift until his return trip soon.
Easy rhymes, fun to say and lots of white space give this book its charm. Young readers will soon be able to read the story on their own, but it's much more fun with a crowd. Pup may be my favorite character in a picture book. He's WONDERFUL! Kudos to Mike Twohy for creating an interesting, unique and charming story sure to captivate all readers.
Highly recommended! All pre-school and up. So creative!
October 5, 2022
The flying household appliances in this picture book seem like something out of a fever dream, and the abrupt ending doesn't fully resolve the dog's exclusion from throughout the story. Even though this story is unique, I'm not sure who it would appeal to.
December 8, 2020
This book reminded me of Beauty and the Beast when all the furniture and household items were alive--except this time it is household appliances. The reason for this is because of the arrival of a very special dog named Spacebbot. He is not a typical dog, but a robot dog from outer space. Just as humans play with their dogs, all the appliances play with Spacebot. They give him a big hug when he arrives and they all race around in the sky. When the time comes for Spacebot to go back to his home, all the appliances rush back into the house and resume their normal positions in the household. Even though everyone in the house is asleep, there is something awake--the family dog! He has watched all this craziness and wishes that he could fly high in the sky like Spacebot. Upon leaving, Spotbot tosses out a red ball for the dog. As it turns out, this red ball gives the family dog the ability to fly in the sky just like Spacebot.
The text is rhyming and used some basic sight words, so this would actually be a good book for a beginner reader. Sentences such as “House looks up. So does pup.” and “Comes down hard. Shakes the yard.” would all be perfect for early readers.
The text is rhyming and used some basic sight words, so this would actually be a good book for a beginner reader. Sentences such as “House looks up. So does pup.” and “Comes down hard. Shakes the yard.” would all be perfect for early readers.
December 22, 2020
It is rare that I give a book a one rating, unless I loathe a book. I do not loathe this picture book, I just did not see the point or like what I saw. However, I can see kids who like dogs and/or robots getting a kick out this tale of a space dog coming to play (with a surprise: Spacebot came to play with the microwave, blender and other appliances). Yet, my biggest issue is I did not like the fact that Spacebot snubs the dog, the appliances snub the dog and to "make up for it" all Spacebot does is give the dog a magic ball to stick on its nose so it can fly, too. The opportunity to teach "all should play together" was missed. The text is simple and not sure if that is why I felt it was missing something or not, but the text also was not grabbing me. Overall I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat.
August 7, 2020
The bouncy rhymes and terrific cartoon-style illustrations here are wonderfully geared for this to do nicely as an early reader. The dog in the story experiences a whole lot of emotions that kids will recognize: fear, curiosity, excitement, disappointment, being left out. A nice discussion starter about feelings.
The simple rhymes scan well and with its large size illustrations, make this a great candidate for a story time. Lot of funny details on the pages make it ideal for repeat reading by kids.
This out-of-this-world picture book is a real treat.
The simple rhymes scan well and with its large size illustrations, make this a great candidate for a story time. Lot of funny details on the pages make it ideal for repeat reading by kids.
This out-of-this-world picture book is a real treat.
July 26, 2020
Lovely simple book filled with rhyming, great for young readers. I found the illustrations to be simple, and also liked that there was not much text on each page. It seems like it would not be very daunting for kids who are just starting to do more solo reading.
It had fun twists and the ending was lovely. This would be a book I would recommend for young readers.
It had fun twists and the ending was lovely. This would be a book I would recommend for young readers.
June 19, 2020
The humans may be asleep, but the dog sees visitors from another planet that kinda look like him but act more like the kitchen appliances! Rhyming couplets make for a gleeful adventure for the eager pup and his surprise buddies.
June 21, 2020
One night as pup prepares to settle down for the night, he sees a bright light in the sky. A robot dog has landed on earth. This whimsical rhyming tale of sci-fi tells what happens while the spacebot visits, and the surprise it leaves behind.
June 30, 2020
I love the charming illustrations in Twohy's books. A robot dog comes down from space! A real dog is delighted to see the robot dog, but is then disappointed when the robot dog plays with the kitchen gadgets instead of him. Very simple text--reads almost like an easy reader.
August 24, 2020
Very simple text propels this book that will appeal to 2-3 year old children. Older, beginning readers will find appliances coming to life from a robotic space dog either super awesome or disconcerting. A folded and gathered (F&G) pre-publication edition was reviewed.
September 16, 2020
This is a fun, limited vocabulary picture book about a robotic dog from space who come to visit a backyard. Pup hopes to be friends but Spacebot has come to be friends with the kitchen appliances instead!
October 16, 2020
This was a fun, silly book about a space dog coming to Earth, he ignores dog and heads right for the kitchen gadgets who zoom all around with him. Poor dog feels left out, but the space dog leaves him with a special present. Simple rhyming text make this a delightful read-aloud.
June 18, 2021
Flying appliances and spacedogs...the makings of a fun romp, but the very short rhyming lines of the story were not quite enough to sustain the storyline and the visit of Spacebot was too random to be a total winner. It fell flat for me.
July 31, 2021
Sparse rhyming text shows a dog and a house that receive a visit from a spacebot - a robot that looks a lot like a dog but who has come to play with the electric devices in the house. Illustrations tell most of the story.
August 25, 2021
A dog has an extra-terrestrial experience with a space-dog. This book is so outlandish and imaginative it is really fun to read. It doesn't rank as one of our favorite books. But, the book is bright and cheery in illustrations and great for kids.
August 27, 2022
This caught my eye as I was walking past the children's book section in the library, but it wasn't super great. Most of the sentences were two words long, which maybe is great for beginning readers, but it also meant there wasn't a lot of substance here in the story.
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June 5, 2020Rhyming beginner's picture book with a novel plot and active, funny illustrations. A good pick for a bedtime read to your 2-5 year old.
July 12, 2020
Good choice for early readers. Engaging, if odd, story.
July 16, 2020
Meh. Why can all the appliances fly? Just because they are appliances? Mystery.
August 1, 2020
When a mysterious visitor arrives from outer space one night, a family dog makes an unexpected friend.
August 14, 2020
In the words of my 7 year old, that book was weird.
August 21, 2020
Not sure who this will appeal to.
August 26, 2020
missed out on the title being “space pup.”
i really liked the cadence. this was a cute and quick story!
i really liked the cadence. this was a cute and quick story!
September 12, 2020
Cute for ages 5 and under.
September 28, 2020
spacebot dog befriends earth dog
October 21, 2020
This is a really cute picture book with short simple sentences and cute illustrations that might make a good preschool storytime read-aloud, especially for a space or alien-themed one.
January 22, 2021
A dog grows frustrated by an extraterrestrial visitor's bond with household appliances over him, with very minimal and simple rhyming text.
February 8, 2021
Some reviewers never saw the brave little toaster and it shows.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews