The Wild Robot & The Girl and The Wolf

Both “The Wild Robot” and “The Girl and The Wolf” share similar themes. While “The Wild Robot” is a longer and more dense story, its central theme is courage. “The Girl and The Wolf” shares the same theme of courage. Both stories contain a character that chooses to be brave. In Peter Brown’s story, it’s the robot, and in Katherena Vermette’s story, it is the girl.

The Wild Robot

In this story, a robot ends up on an island. Her name is Roz and she is accidentally activated by a bunch of curious otters. She does not know where she is or how she got there, only that she must learn in order to survive. The setting is essential to the book because, throughout the story, Roz learns of new animals on the island and how they can all help each other live more comfortably and safely. Additionally, when the climax of the story takes place, the island’s landscape proves helpful in fighting off the other robots.

While the story may seem about survival, since the topic is mentioned on multiple occasions throughout the book, I think the main message conveyed is that you should always be friendly and nice to everyone. In the beginning, Roz is judged and labeled as a monster. Through her various encounters with other animals, she proves to be a very kind and gentle robot. The other animals realize that their judgements were wrong and they come to befriend the robot.

I think that this message can easily relate to the world because humans are so quick to judge others. Often, we misjudge others and therefore miss out on valuable friendships. This book shows the importance of acceptance and openness to others that are different. Originally, Roz was called a monster because she did not resemble an animal that should be on the island. She didn’t belong. But, overtime, the other animals saw her uniqueness and, later, did not want her to leave the island.

I think that this book would make an excellent read aloud for many reasons.

1. The chapters are short – this would make it easy to fit into a tight schedule, and a chapter or two could be easily read at the end of the day or between transitions.
2. The book contains a character that students can root for- this was one of my qualities for a good children’s book. Roz is a likable character and one that students can maybe relate to themselves, therefore, they are able to resonate with Roz and root for her.
3. The theme of courage and message of friendship- sometimes kids need to be reminded to be brave and kind. This book shows the positive outcomes of both.

Brown, P. (2016). The wild robot. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

The Girl and The Wolf

To start off, the author of this book is a #ownvoices author. This means that she is a member of the community that she is writing about. Katherena Vermette is a writer from Treaty One territory in Winnipeg.

In her book, “The Girl and The Wolf”, the wolf is friendly. Generally, the wolf is not-so friendly. Examples of “bad” wolves can be found in many stories such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs”. In the author’s note at the back of the book, she mentions that she found that the wolf was always the villain when reading European fairy tales. She thought that this was unfair, and thus created a story where the wolf was helpful and guiding.

In her story, a little girl is warned by her mother to stay close. Unknowingly, the little girl wonders off away from her mother and becomes frightened once she realizes that she has gotten lost. A wolf appears and he helps her find the courage to stay calm and find her way back.

The setting is essential to this book because the little girl gets lost in the woods, and that is how she meets the wolf.

At the end of the story, the little girl thanks the wolf by wrapping tobacco in a piece of red cloth.

Vermette, K. (2019). The girl and the wolf. Canada: Theytus Books.