Bing & Nero

It's almost June and we don't have a single 2014 ERIK Award nominee yet?  Well that's about to change... 

THREE PROS

*Now that my son is five, I secretly hope that he begins to develop the gift of entertaining himself... and I feel like a story where a kid builds his own robot from random household junk can serve as a wonderful inspiration

*Author I.L Williams picked very specific component parts when constructing Nero that allow the robot come to life in ways which are not isolated to childhood imagination 

*I'd be lying if I said that the production quality of an indie book doesn't sway me to some degree -- so kudos to Williams for choosing illustrator Inci Alper and publisher Northern Phoenix as her partners   

THREE CONS 

*The first page presents a character background that develops too slowly for my taste -- the book would have been even better if those 4+ paragraphs were boiled down into one and added to what is currently the second page of text

*Sounds harsh, I know, to not allow the author a little storybook reality-stretching, but the idea that all of these electronics run on a shared battery is not feasible 

*While naming the boy "Bing" evokes a happy vibe, it also immediately makes me think of Microsoft 

ONE DAD'S OPINION

It's hard to argue with a subtitle that declares "Boy + Robot = Fun."  So I won't.  Bing & Nero is a fabulous addition to the world of kidlit.  I have no doubt that my children and I will read this book dozens of times over the next few years (although we will probably skip over the beginning and get right to the good stuff).  Who knows... we might even assemble a robot or two as well!                              

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy