Robotics

I have had a copy of this book sitting around waiting for review for far, far too long. The excuse (again!) is that it keeps disappearing. I’ll set it in my “review this NOW” stack and it disappears . . . into the hands of my six year old who is dreaming of the day when we’ll work on one of these projects.

Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future with 20 Projects is a dream book for the young person who likes to tinker around. All they have to do is open the pages and let their imagination go to town! It is filled with information relating to the history of robots, how you define what is and what is not a robot, and what their uses are. Then, of course, there are twenty experiments contained inside these pages for you to create your own robot.

As I mentioned, Robotics has been glued to the hands of my six-year-old. He recently started reading all by himself and I’ve caught him mumbling through the pages on more than one occasion. This book truly is a great introduction on the subject, providing many small lists of vocabulary words, and explanations for things such things as nuclear power, sensors, and controllers. It also describes robots that can be found in art, toys and history, causing the young reader to realize that robots are all around us! (You can be happy about that or not, but it’s true.)

As for the experiments, each one provides a list of supplies needed and instructions to follow. Most experiments look as if you’d like to have an adult on hand (or, at least, in the very near vicinity) during construction. You’ll need anything from borax to nails to a digital camera (or cell phone with a camera) to conduct these experiments. Of course, these are twenty suggested activities but that’s just to get the interested child going! Their imagination can take them much further than this book ever will, but it provides an excellent foundation for understanding what robots are and how they work.

I highly recommend Robotics, both for the information that it includes and for the creativity it fosters.

A big thank you to Nomad Press for shooting a copy of this book my direction in exchange for my honest thoughts. We have and will continue to enjoy this book!

Carrie tries to keep up with all of the books her children are interested in, as well as the books she reads for personal pleasure over at Reading to Know.