What if a robot never interacted with humans? What if a robot’s survival instincts taught it how to survive in the wild, among animals? This is the premise of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016). Rozzum Unit 7134 has crashed into a wild island, where she learns to survive without interaction with humans. She learns to communicate in the language of the animals and fulfill her purpose as a helpful robot among others. She learns to “act” alive from the animals around her, and she takes responsibility for an orphaned goose when she causes the death of his parents. In short, Roz learns to live.
The premise of learning the language of the animals is the most far-fetched to me, but the concept of a robot learning from a situation and thus obtaining consciousness is an ethical one to consider. Roz has been trained to take orders, but without a human to order her around, her instinct is self-preservation. frequently, Peter Brown suggest that if Roz could feel, she “felt something like…” Can a robot learn to feel? Do emotions exist for a robot? With the advancement of artificial intelligence, it is certainly a concept to consider. Our society is probably a long way from a Roz-like robot. She had been programmed for survival in ways we currently wouldn’t think of.
The young reader doesn’t care about the ethical and moral implications of a sentient robot, though. The Wild Robot is a truly delightful middle grade novel. Although Roz may not feel true emotion, the reader surely does. My daughter and cheered for Roz as she learns to “act” alive, and her developing responsibility as a mother for Brightbill the goose only endears her to us more. The other animals are understandable, and we loved seeing how they all came to the rescue when Roz needed it.
We listened to the narration via Audible, and it is incredibly well done. The narrator, Kate Atwater, fantastically imitates a robot voice, but she adjusts it as Roz learns to adapt to her environment herself. We never doubt that the words are Roz’s words, however. How does she do that? The narrator also gives the other animals distinct voices, making the entire book feel alive. It feels like we are listening to a variety of characters who are telling this fantastic wild story.
The physical book has illustrations by the author, Peter Brown, which we missed by listening to the audiobook. The fantastic narration was not to be missed, however. We’ll have to return to the illustrations another time. We both really enjoyed the book and are excited to see the upcoming movie. Let’s hope they don’t mess it up!
