Ben's Robot

Orca Echoes

by Robin Stevenson, Robin Stevenson

Seven-year-old Ben loves pretending to be a robot, but his best friend Jessy is tired of being ordered to oil his knee joints and check his batteries. She says the robot game is boring and runs off to play with someone else. So Ben decides to build a real robot instead. He's built all kinds of things before: wind generators, solar-powered marble launchers, pinball machines. But none of his creations have ever really worked. Until now.

When his robot begins talking, Ben is thrilled. However, nothing goes quite the way he thinks it will. Ben's robot is rather difficult to get along with. He complains a lot. He's bossy. He never wants to do anything Ben suggests. Having a real robot isn't nearly as much fun as Ben thought it would be. And to make things worse, no one--not even Jessy--will believe him.

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Robin Stevenson is the award winning author of over thirty books of fiction and non-fiction for kids and teens. Her books have received starred reviews and have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff award and a Stonewall Honor, and been finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many reader’s choice awards. Robin was the Book and Periodical Council of Canada’s Champion of Free Expression for 2022, and received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence in 2023. She lives on the west coast of Canada.

Reviews

[Claire-Elizabeth Ramson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only want to give this 3 stars because it has left me wondering what happened to the robot, and also secretly if the robot really talked. Why would he leave? But then I suppose that's a sign of a good story.

[Billly · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to read this book

[Melany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben's Robot by Robin Stevenson is a fantasy book intended for grade leves 2-3. This book is about a kid who is fixed on robots and gets his friend to pretend to be one. She gets tired of playing robots and decides to find other friends. Ben decided to create his own friend, a robot but quickly learns that his creation isn't as fun as he wants him to be. I give this book a 4 because of the message and illustrations. This book teaches young readers about compromising in friendships and sometimes friends may want to do different things. I would challenge my students to think about some ways that friends can work together to find solutions when they want to do different things.

[Anne Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story which could be enjoyed by all students in K-3. , Ben's Robot deals with the challenges of young friends and their different tastes. Play and imagination and sharing are important elements in this book. It is a entertaining and imaginative story that will let the students explore with their imagination too. A good read.