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How to Make a Friend
A girl’s efforts to build a robot friend go comically awry when the robot attempts world domination in this witty metaphor for the ups and downs of friendship. Ever wish friendship came with an instruction manual? A resourceful youngster follows step-by-step directions for constructing a robot to be her friend. The instructions make it sound so simple! But they also caution that sometimes a friendship doesn’t turn out as hoped for, as the girl discovers when her new friend unexpectedly unleashes an evil robot army on the city. Now she has to stop the robot and seriously reevaluate their friendship! In the end, the resilient heroine of this comical and clever tale not only saves the city, she finds a real and lasting friend where least expected.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2021
2 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Stephen W. Martin
17 books26 followersSTEPHEN W. MARTIN is the author of Robot Smash!, Charlotte and the Rock and Stewart's Best Pen. He has also written for Frederator's Bravest Warriors and the Netflix series Trash Truck. Stephen resides in Los Angeles, California but misses Newfoundland.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 30, 2021
Hilarious, quirky picture book about friendship.
A young scientist wants to make a friend, so she literally MAKES a robot friend with her book on advanced robotics (that she acquires from the library). The book is full of good advice on friendship, like sometimes your friend makes other friends and that's okay. And advice on building, like measure twice and cut once.
In the end, she learns that not all friendships are forever. Like if your robot friend starts hanging out with the wrong crowd and wants to take over the city (and then explodes). You pick up the pieces, and make a new friend, which is easier the second time around.
A young scientist wants to make a friend, so she literally MAKES a robot friend with her book on advanced robotics (that she acquires from the library). The book is full of good advice on friendship, like sometimes your friend makes other friends and that's okay. And advice on building, like measure twice and cut once.
In the end, she learns that not all friendships are forever. Like if your robot friend starts hanging out with the wrong crowd and wants to take over the city (and then explodes). You pick up the pieces, and make a new friend, which is easier the second time around.
August 17, 2021
How To Make A Friend tells the story of a young girl as she follows all the steps to build a robot friend. But, as our main character finds out, sometimes friendships don’t go exactly as we plan. Sometimes your robot friend might turn out to be a bit evil, build an army of other friends, and try to destroy the city. If that’s the case, you have to stop them, and you might even find a true friend along the way.
I absolutely adored How To Make A Friend! I can’t wait to read this one aloud to my nieces because I know the far-fetched story and the humor will have them completely hooked. It honestly reminded me of cartoons from the 60’s or 70’s, though those cartoons were generally missing a female lead with an interest in STEM. I also appreciate the fact that How To Make A Friend doesn’t feel like a book marketed to “girls in STEM”. It’s a fully fleshed out story with elements of STEM, social emotional learning, and lots of humor, making it a perfect read for everyone.
The illustrations by Olivia Aserr are wonderful and move the story along perfectly. Stephen Martin’s text reads almost like a handbook, which makes room in the illustrations for storytelling. The text and illustrations combine perfectly to create an almost cinematic experience.
Whether you’re looking for a book to help a child through a difficult friendship or to highlight failed first attempts, I would highly recommend How To Make A Friend.
Thank you so much to Clarion Books for providing me with a copy of this fantastic book!
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I absolutely adored How To Make A Friend! I can’t wait to read this one aloud to my nieces because I know the far-fetched story and the humor will have them completely hooked. It honestly reminded me of cartoons from the 60’s or 70’s, though those cartoons were generally missing a female lead with an interest in STEM. I also appreciate the fact that How To Make A Friend doesn’t feel like a book marketed to “girls in STEM”. It’s a fully fleshed out story with elements of STEM, social emotional learning, and lots of humor, making it a perfect read for everyone.
The illustrations by Olivia Aserr are wonderful and move the story along perfectly. Stephen Martin’s text reads almost like a handbook, which makes room in the illustrations for storytelling. The text and illustrations combine perfectly to create an almost cinematic experience.
Whether you’re looking for a book to help a child through a difficult friendship or to highlight failed first attempts, I would highly recommend How To Make A Friend.
Thank you so much to Clarion Books for providing me with a copy of this fantastic book!
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May 12, 2023
How to Make a Friend written by Stephen Martin and illustrated by Olivia Aserr is a science fiction book for about 4- to 7-year-olds. The story is about a little girl who decides to make a robot friend which takes a turn for the worse when the robot starts planning world domination. I liked this story a lot. It’s quirky, playful, sarcastic, and very metaphorical. I also enjoyed the fact that the story heavily reminded me of Dexter’s Laboratory from my own childhood. Anyways, the major theme I took away from this story is that sometimes friendships or relationships in general can end badly, but you just have to pick yourself up and move on. The way they use robot and the little girl to represent a failing friendship is so cool because it portrays realistic elements like a friend getting new friends or hanging out with the wrong crowd. The only complaint I have regarding this story is that sometimes the illustrations didn’t exactly line up or express what was happening in the story, but that may have something to do with the metaphorical aspect of the story. I believe that children would enjoy this story because of it fun and different story-telling approach. The illustrations are youthful and appealing. Overall a nice story.
February 16, 2023
This book is being added right away to my future classroom book shelf and I think it is such a wonderful book. I loved how they included different ways you could be looking for a friend, how your friend may make other friends and that's okay, you'll meet new friends that way, and they even touched base on how to stand up to a friend that is doing wrong and its okay it happens. This book had a lot of great messages and I highly recommend it.
October 21, 2021
I thought this books was incredibly funny and unique. A girl wants to make a friend and while the text in the book discusses how to make friends, the illustrations show the girl building a robot friend. In the end, she discovers the best friends are the "human" kind. A fun story with an important message!
December 2, 2021
Three and a half stars? Maybe four… I like the text, and I like the art as art, so many adorable things here, I love a lot of it, but I don’t think this art is the best interpretation of the text. Some of the spreads were confusing as to what was happening, and some I just didn’t get. I’ll re-read and ponder some more…
November 18, 2024
Ask your parents before handling plutonium.
Sound advice, that one.
This reminded me so much of the best parts of Dexter's Lab. Lesson learned - making a HUMAN friend is SO MUCH easier than the alternative featured in this adorable book.
Sound advice, that one.
This reminded me so much of the best parts of Dexter's Lab. Lesson learned - making a HUMAN friend is SO MUCH easier than the alternative featured in this adorable book.
Want to read
November 14, 2020Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
July 17, 2021
If only friendship came with instructions.
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July 23, 2021This would be good to compare to Oh No! by Mac Barnett.
September 11, 2021
Good for older kids since it's sarcastic tale about girl who makes a robot friend
October 9, 2021
When (literally) making a friend, just be careful that they don't create their own robot army to try to take over the world. A humorous story that subverts readers' expectations.
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October 24, 2021This book is frickin' hilarious. I will just say it was definitely not what I was expecting and leave it at that :D.
November 3, 2021
Cute! Unfortunately above the humor level of a preschool storytime group.
November 23, 2021
A really funny book about making a robot friend. Perfect for a lower elementary read aloud.
December 7, 2021
Nice read!
December 27, 2021
3.5 stars.
December 29, 2021
Well, this escalated quickly.
February 1, 2022
About real friendship, but based on a robot friend that she made, who tries to destroy the world.
February 15, 2022
Really cute concept, thought they would be coding (it’s in the dedication) but there isn’t. Adorable pictures.
March 25, 2022
The girls enjoyed this, but in all honestly I think that I loved it the most. It’s hilarious.
October 23, 2022
I really liked the way this book teaches how friendships come and go, it is very comforting and leaves a strong feeling of hope.
April 30, 2023
A silly how-to, complete with legal disclaimers.
March 13, 2025
Storytime Themes: Robots, Friends
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February 27, 2024Turn/Level: 1/2.5
Robots
Girl sets out to make her friend, and succeeds, mostly. Touches on robots and friendships. Main read.
Robots
Girl sets out to make her friend, and succeeds, mostly. Touches on robots and friendships. Main read.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews