Robot Dreams

Graphic Novel

Ages 7 and up

By Sara Varon

208 pages

First Second

2007

Though I have categorized this book for ages seven and up, I happen to know at least one three year old who requests this book often. Because Robot Dreams is nearly wordless (and completely without dialogue), children and adults alike can create their own dialogue, their own narrative.

The story takes place over the course of one year and is broken up by month, so parents reading to children can treat it as a chapter book and break it up over several sessions. Sharing a wordless book with a child can be an excellent opportunity to hear their perspective. How do they interpret the action in the art? How does that compare to what the adult sees? Every time a wordless book is opened a new story can be told, because…