the little robot

8/14/2019 The Little Robot

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The Adventures of

THE LITTLE ROBOT

Written & Illustrated by Harris Tobias

2010Casita PressCharlottesville, Va


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For my beautiful, intelligent Robot granddaughters:

Eula-bot

Esme-bot

Sadie-bot

Lilah-bot


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1. Once there was a little robot. He was too small to do the jobsthe big robots did. The big robots could do things like lift heavybeams to build buildings, carry huge loads of concrete to buildbridges or pull up giant trees and cut them up for lumber. The lit-tle robot couldnt do any of those things. All he could do was runaround trying not to get stepped on. He tried to make himself use-ful. Hed bring bolts to the bolters, bricks to the brickers; hed haulnails to the nailers and screws to the screwers. But it wasnt enoughto make him feel very useful. He wanted to do what the big robots

did but he couldnt and that made him sad.Dont be sad, said his mother, Even small robots can be use-ful.

Stop crying, said his father, just try not to get hurt.Wimpy shrimp, teased all his bigger and stronger brothers and

sisters.One day work stopped on the big bridge project. Ants had

gotten into the cement robots motor, chewed up the wires, andgummed up the gears. The poor cement robot got slower andslower until he couldnt move at all. Without cement, the builderscouldnt build, the brickers couldnt brick. The robot foreman called

for the fix-it robot. The fix-it robot took a look inside the cement ro-bots innards and shook his head.

I dont think I can fix him, the fix-it robot said, Hes got ants

in places I cant reach.Oh no, said the robot foreman.Oh no, said the builder-bots.Ugh, said the sick cement robot.Maybe I can fix him, said a small voice.

Who said that? asked the robot foreman looking around.Down here, said the little robot.


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And all the robots looked down and there was the little robot

waving his arms. Im so small, I can go inside the big cement-botand get rid of the ants. And, if you show me how, maybe I can fixthe wires too.

What do you think? the fix-it bot asked the robot foreman.What do you think? the robot foreman asked the other build-

er-bots.Lets do it, said all the builder-bots together.

So they scooped up the little robot and lowered him inside thebig cement bot. It was very dark inside the big robot but the littlerobot had his own flashlight and he turned it on. Inside the darkinterior, the big robot was full of ants and several wires had comeundone. The little robot took out his can of bug spray and squirtedall the ants. The ants ran this way and that way until there wasnta single one left inside the cement robot. Then the little robot fol-lowed the fix-it bots instructions and reattached all the wires. Thebig cement robot rumbled to life. All the builder robots cheered.The little robot was a hero. he became the fix-it bots special helperand from that day to this he never worried about being too small.


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2. The robots were throwing a big party to celebrate building thebridge over the river. All of the robots were invited. At first the lit-tle robot wasnt sure that he was invited but the whole family was

going. Come with us, said his father, You had a part in buildingthat bridge. So the little robot decided to go along.

There was a big crowd of robots already assembled by thetime the little robot arrived. The little robot couldnt see a thing.The builder-bots towered over the him, all he could see was aforest of robot legs. Then his father lifted him up on his shouldersand the little robot could see everything. The robot foreman gavea speech and the mayor cut the cake to much applause.


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The builder bots were all very proud of themselves for doingsuch a good job. The new bridge was a beautylong, strong andgraceful. It had two giant towers and a great thick cable ran be-tween them in long sweeping curves. The roadway hung from thethick cables. It was a beautiful bridge.

The little robot was happy that he had a tiny part in building thebridge. He carried bolts and bricks and did what he could. When therobot foreman praised the crew, the little robot felt proud too. Whenthe Robot foreman said, it was a great day for all robots, the littlerobots heart swelled and he felt as big as the biggest builder-bot.

Then the mayor cut the ribbon. The robot band struck up a live-ly tune and all the robots marched over the new bridge. It was ahappy day for the little robot.


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3. One day the little robot received a letter in the mail. The ro-bot mailman took the letter out of his bag and handed it to the littlerobot. It was from Grandmother and Grandfather Robot. Grandmaand Grandpa were farmer robots and worked on a farm in the coun-try. They wanted the little robot to came and visit. The little robotsparents thought that was a good idea.

The little robot was very excited. Hed never been away fromhome before; hed never been on a train before; and hed neverbeen on a farm before. So many new experiences made the littlerobot very happy. He could hardly wait for the time to pass until

school was out and it was time to go.

His parents took him to the train station and put him onthe train. Then they kissed him goodbye and told him to have agood time. When the train pulled out of the station the little ro-bot waved goodbye to his family from the train window. It wasa funny feeling leaving home but an exciting one too. The ro-bot conductor came by and punched a hole in the little robotsticket. The little robot looked out of the window the whole way tograndmas farm.


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Grandpa was there to meet the little robot and took him tothe farm where grandma prepared a special meal. The farm wasa wonderful place full of robot chickens and robot cows. The littlerobot played in the barn and went fishing in the pond. He sleptin the hay and ran in the fields. In the evening he would sit withgrandma and grandpa on the front porch and listen to stories oflong ago.

The little robot had such a good time on the farm that hecouldnt believe that it was time to go back home. He was sad toleave the farm and a tear ran down his face when it was time tosay goodbye.

Dont cry, said grandma, youll rust. And she gave him abig hug and an even bigger sandwich to eat on the train. Now itwas grandma and grandpa that he waved to from the train and

the little robot sat and watched the scenery change from countryto city. And then he was home again.


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4.A new family was moving in next door. The little robot could

see the moving robots bringing in furniture and boxes of stuff fromthe big moving truck parked outside. The little robot was excited

about this. It looked like the new neighbors had a little robot too.The thought of a new friend made the little robot very happy.

Mother robot knocked on the door and the neighbor robot an-swered. Mother robot said, welcome to the neighborhood. ImMother Robot and this is my child we just call him little robot

and you can call me Blanch.

When the moving robots had brought in every box and haddriven away, mother robot baked a batch of special metal chipcookies to bring over to the new neighbors. Would you liketo go next door with me and meet the new neighbors? askedmother robot.


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Hello little robot and hello Blanch, Im Mother Robot too butyou can call me Trixie and we have some little robots of our own.

Would you like to meet them?

Them? thought the little robot but before he had a chance tothink any more about it, Trixie called upstairs and two little ro-bots came rushing down the steps to meet him.

These are the twins Anode and Diode, said the mother.I hope you all become great friends. And that is exactly what

they did.

ANODE DIODE


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5. One day the little robot was playing hide and seek with his newfriends, Anode and Diode. Diode hid his eyes and was counting to100 while Anode and the little robot ran to look for places to hide.Anode ran into the garden and hid himself in the tool shed wherethe wheelbarrow and the shovels were kept. The little robot found

a hole in the fence and crawled through. He found himself in theneighbors yard.

The neighbors yard was filled with scrap. Big mounds of rustymetal, old cars and bit and pieces of old machines were piled every-where. The little robot was so fascinated by all the interesting stuffthat he forgot about the game of hide and seek and began to lookaround. What fun, he thought and he wandered further and furtherinto the junk yard. Suddenly he heard a growling noise behind him.It was the junkyard dog. A robot dog with sharp teeth and a badtemper. The dogs chain was wrapped tightly around an old washingmachine and it hardly had any room to move.


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The little robot was not afraid. He untangled the dog so it wasfree to run around. The dog was so happy to be rescued that henever barked at the little robot again. The little robot ran backand told his friends about the magical place he had discovered.They played there often and the junkyard dog was happy to seethem.

5. It was Holiday time and the little Robot was excited. He ex-pected a present from Grandma and Grandpa Robot. Each day hewatched for the mail robot to stop at his house and bring him abox of presents and every day the mail robot would say, No pack-age for you today. The little robot was very disappointed. He washoping for a computer, a paint set or a new toy truck.


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One day the mail robot came up the walk carrying a big box.Its here, he said and handed the box to the little Robot. The lit-tle Robot was very happy and ran inside to open it up. Inside thebox he found a big warm scarf that grandma robot had knitted outof steel wool. There was also a new pair of metal boots and a nicethick pair of iron socks and mittens. There was also a card from hisgrandparents that said, happy holidays Little Robot. We hope thisstuff keeps you nice and warm. Love Grandma and Grandpa. TheLittle Robot was very disappointed. It was fine to get new clothes

but gee whiz, you couldnt play with clothes.

The next day it snowed and snowed and the Little Robot was anx-ious to go outside and play. Mother Robot dressed him in his newwarm iron socks, metal boots and tied his new steel wool scarfaround his neck and sent him outside to play. He played with An-ode and Diode all day long. They made snow-robots and a snowfort. they threw snowballs at each other and the Little Robot nev-er got cold once. When the day was over and the Little Robot wascoming home. He was very tired but also warm and happy. Whenhe came in the house, Mother Robot said, I have a surprise for

you, Little Robot, come in the kitchen and see.


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There in the kitchen was grandma and grandpa robot sitting atthe table and having tea. On the table was a big box. Open it,said Grandpa, Ill bet you cant guess whats in it.

Quick as a flash the Little Robot opened the box. Inside wasthe best toy truck the Little Robot ever saw.

7. One day the circus came to Robot Town. Little Robot reallywanted to go. He was very excited when father robot announcedthat he was taking the family to see the show. The circus was atraveling show. Once a year it came to Robot Town and pitched abig tent in a field outside of town. The sun was bright in a blue sky

and the circus was as full of color and wonder just as the little Ro-bot hoped it would.

Around the big tent there was a small amusement park with


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Around the big tent there was a small amusement park withsome strange and scary rides. Rides that would pick you straightup, whirl you around and bring you down again. There was a bigroller coaster that was like a train only much wilder. The little trainwent up, down and around so fast it mad Little Robot sick just tosee it. He didnt go on any of the scary rides. Instead he went onthe rides that were fun and safe. He rode on the Ferris Wheel andthe merry-go-round. He liked them so much he rode them twice.

After that, it was time for the circus show. The Little Robot handedhis ticket to the robot at the door and the family found their seats in-side the big tent. Pretty soon the music started and lights went down.First there were silly robot clowns who ran around and juggled and

made the audience laugh. All the robots watching the show clappedtheir hands when the clowns were through.

Next the robot ring master announced that there would be an


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gaerial act and the Little Robot watched robots on the trapeze andthe high wire flip and tumble as if they were on the ground and nothigh in the air.

Then there was an exciting animal act with ferocious robot lionsand a string of robot elephants who did amazing tricks. There werebalancing robots, flying robots, and robots who walked on stilts sohigh they could touch the top of the tent itself. Everybody clappedand clapped when the show was over. It was an amazing day, theLittle Robot was sad that the day was over. he had a wonderfultime. He didnt know that robots could do such amazing things.

8. One sunny day, Grandma and Grandpa Robot picked up LittleRobot and took him to the zoo. There were many different kindsof robot animals there. He saw great huge robot elephants andwatched the funny robot monkeys swing from branch to branch.

There were robot kangaroos and robot antelopes wandering aroundin their enclosures.


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The little robot felt sorry to see the animals locked in cages. Theywould be so much happier if they were free, he said.

They would, Grandma said, but then youd never get to seethem. Here they are safe from harm and dont have to hunt for

food. But still, free is better.

I saw them feed the chimpanzees


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I went to the robot zooI wanted to see what the animals doWhen no one is lookingSo I hid in the darkTil they closed up the parkAnd I had the most marvelous viewAnd I saw what was cooking

pOn motor oil and batteriesThe kangaroo wiggled his metal earsWhen they tossed him a salad of wires and gearsI saw them remove the zebras stripesThey rubbed them off with Handy WipesThe robot monkey didnt swingIn fact he didnt do a single thingI watched them use a pair of pliers

To replace his monkey wires

The robot bear didnt go anywhere


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The robot bear didn t go anywhereHe just sat around with a vacant stareThey opened him up looking for cluesFinally replacing a burnt out fuseThe sleek black panther looked fantasticHis coat was made of thick black plasticThey wiped him down with an oily ragAnd fed him something from a paper bagThe robot giraffe gave me a laughThey used metal polish to give him a bath

All in all, I was happy to seeThat the robot animals were just like me

the little robot

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