Jo Bright and the Seven Bots

by Deborah Underwood, Meg Hunt (Artist)

Overview

A bot-building princess engineers her own happy ending in this futuristic fairytale, a follow-up to the acclaimed Interstellar Cinderella.

Once upon a planetoid
surrounded by her friends,
a girl, Jo Bright, loved building bots
from scraps and odds and ends!

Snow White gets a stellar upgrade in this clever retelling with a truly inventive heroine. With wit, bravery, and some spare circuit boards, Jo will foil the queen, befriend a dragon, and build herself a celestially happy ending of her own. From the team that created the acclaimed Interstellar Cinderella and Reading Beauty comes another funny and empowering fairytale that's out of this world.

A STELLAR ROLE MODEL FOR GIRLS: This uniquely feminist retelling of Snow White, in which the princess is an engineer and inventor, encourages girls to see themselves as the heroines of their own stories.

STEM FOR THE WIN: It's more important than ever to support young girls who are interested in STEM activities. This picture book makes tinkering, inventing, and engineering accessible and inviting!

SO MUCH FUN TO READ ALOUD: An enchanting rhyme and gorgeous color-drenched illustrations combine to make this engaging book a wonderful choice for story-times—one that little readers will want to pore over again and again.

DON'T MISS THE OTHER BOOKS: This fractured fairytale is a smart and funny follow-up to the acclaimed Interstellar Cinderella and Reading Beauty.

Perfect for:

• Parents and grandparents
• Gift-givers
• Teachers and librarians

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452171302
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	44
Sales rank:	490,874
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Deborah Underwood is the author of numerous picture books, including Interstellar Cinderella, Reading Beauty, Finding Kindness, The Panda Problem, and New York Times bestsellers Here Comes the Easter Cat, The Quiet Book, and The Loud Book! She lives in Northern California.

Meg Hunt is the illustrator of Interstellar Cinderella and Reading Beauty, as well as a printmaker, an educator, and an all-around maker of things. Ever since she was little, she's been fascinated by the wonders of the universe and adventures big and small. She has worked for clients like Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, Storey Publishing, Oxford University Press, and Plansponsor. Originally from a little seaside city in Connecticut, Meg now lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Hunt’s rich, saturated artwork moves between Jo’s and the queen’s perspectives, building on Underwood’s rhythmic hooks and repetition in the narrative to bring an innovative take to the familiar tale…. A delightful picture book for a rambunctious storytime, this also encourages viewers to use creative thinking and problem solving to invent their own happily ever after.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review 

“Hunt’s rich, saturated artwork moves between Jo’s and the queen’s perspectives, building on Underwood’s rhythmic hooks and repetition in the narrative to bring an innovative take to the familiar tale…. A delightful picture book for a rambunctious storytime, this also encourages viewers to use creative thinking and problem solving to invent their own happily ever after.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review 

From the Publisher

2022-07-27
A “Snow White”–inspired tale of a kind, intelligent bot-builder, from the creators of Interstellar Cinderella (2015) and Reading Beauty (2019).

“Once upon a planetoid,” Jo Bright, a green-haired, tan-skinned girl clad in overalls, builds bots from found items, improvising with odds and ends because the “jealous, robot-building queen” (depicted with light skin) won’t let her use her tools and supplies. When the queen’s mirror-bot announces that Jo Bright is the best bot-builder, the queen banishes Jo, leaving her near the dragon’s lair. Sparky, the misunderstood and lonely dragon, invites Jo in for tea, and Jo uses items in the dragon’s home to make seven bots to keep the creature company. Back at the castle, the mirror-bot still confirms Jo is the best bot-builder, so the queen attempts to kill Jo with an evil apple-bot, which zaps the smallest dragon-bot instead. To repair him, Jo must sneak into the queen’s workshop. Sparky and the bots go with her, prepared for trouble, and together they defeat the queen. Underwood’s narrative moves quickly in rhyming stanzas, with only occasionally unnatural constructions to serve the rhyme. Hunt’s quirky illustrations offer diverse creatures, colorful landscapes, and whimsical looking bots, though images of the queen smashing the mirror-bot and the little bot crumpled on the ground may unsettle younger readers, especially those not familiar with the original story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun read, though perhaps not a favorite. (Fairy tale. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews