Book Review: A Day With Wilbur Robinson
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this story about a boy's day in
the house of wacky inventors is a bit strange and disjointed,
but it is also unusual and captivating in its originality.
Nothing objectionable is presented.
Families will enjoy talking about the various characters in Wilbur Robinson's family and all the contraptions they have invented. The visiting boy thinks his friend's house is the greatest place to visit -- why? Kids might enjoy talking about how they would feel if they visited a friend overnight and found he lived in such an unusual world. What would it be like to play in the snow inside your friend's house, or fly because an uncle turned on his antigravity machine, or sleep in a tree with the rest of the family after having a pillow fight?
Common Sense Media Review
Readers of any age will want to spend much more time than a
single day visiting the pages of A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON.
Each page of illustrations is a story in itself. In fact, the
best way to approach this book would be to spend a few seconds
reading the text and then the bulk of your time exploring the
adjacent illustration. One builds on the other, and the story
grows and grows with each reading.
The illustrations are at once retro and futuristic as they show Aunt Billie playing with her train set, Cousin Pete walking the cats (actually full-grown tigers), and Uncle Gaston sitting in the family cannon. Uncle Nimbus plays with his new snowball-shooting device, Uncle Orpley floats by in a large bubble, and Uncle Judlow relaxes with his brain augmentor. The photon elevator is broken, the time machine has been left on, and dinosaurs are visiting, while Grandfather hangs out in his lab with his frog band and his friends Mr. Ellingon and Mr. Armstrong.
Dinnertime is more than lively with its food-shooting cannon and dinner-serving robots. And, bedtime is far from the normal when after an exhausting pillow fight, they all fall asleep in a tree listening to Uncle Art tell scary stories while frogs play on their violins. All in all, A Day with Wilbur Robinson is quite an adventure, and anything but dull.
William Joyce has produced several other books as well as animated television programs and films. Meet the Robinsons, an animated film based on the book, will be released in 2007.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
Member Comments On...
Book Review: A Day With Wilbur Robinson
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I found the movie to be a lot better after I read the book. I think I felt like I understood better what the filmmakers were going for.
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