My Robot's Gone Wild! New Book in the Robot Babysitter series, Out Now!

 

Hi folks, 

Belated best wishes for the New Year – I hope all is well with you and yours.

I'm posting today to announce that the fourth (and final) book in the Robot Babysitter series is now available.

Emma, at Primary Teacher Bookshelf, did a great review that sums up the story very nicely. She kindly allowed me to use it here:

"My Robot’s Gone Wild is an epic finale to this series of books … a real ‘coming-of-age,’ ‘moving on’ story, that will appeal to children in Year 6 thinking about their transition to high school and all the changes that lie ahead. 

Jake, his twin sister, best friend Ali and school-friend Ivana are spending one last summer together before ‘big school’ camping in the Scottish Wilderness. They’re pitching up at Granny Anderson’s place and Jake can’t wait to see Robin his robot babysitter again. He’s also really looking forward to hanging out with his best mate, but it would seem Ali only has eyes for Ivana now and Jake’s worried he might have lost his best bud for good. His summer is looking lonely, but when Granny’s Highland cattle are stolen, Jake & his friends end up having one last adventure they’ll never forget … 

There’s some really appealing themes between the pages alongside the adventure … that most upper primary pupils will identify with."– Emma Kuyateh, Primary Teacher Bookshelf

If you happen to have a robot fan to hand and would like to buy a copy … THANK YOU! I've set up a 'bookshop' of sorts on my website with links to various places you might like to purchase from.

To watch some videos and find out more about the rest of the stories in the series, click here for the robots page on my website.

Thanks for reading.

Take care of yourselves.

Best wishes

Dave 

National Literacy Trust #FitforLit Alternative Sports Day Challenge

 

With COVID-19 set to have a disastrous impact on the literacy of the 4.6 million children living in poverty in the UK, the National Literacy Trust is raising money to fund projects to support these children.

The #FITFORLIT Alternative Sports Day challenge invites you to film or photograph yourself doing something active with a book – maybe set up a book obstacle course, or see how many books you can weight-lift!

I decided to attempt to read out loud the first chapter of A Robot Ate My Grandma while out running! Watch the video below to find out how I got on.

 

Why not have a go yourself? Challenge three friends to join in too! Visit the Literacy Trust #FitforLit website for more info and ideas for how to get involved.

If you are able to donate a few pounds it would be much appreciated and a huge help to this important project. Please visit https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/fitforlit or text FITFORLIT to 70085 to donate £3 (texts cost £3 plus one standard rate message). Thank you!

Thanks for reading and watching the video of my pain! Have fun with your own #FitforLit challenge.

Take care and all the best, Dave.

A Robot Ate My Grandma – 3rd story in the Robot Babysitter series OUT NOW!

Hi folks, 

I hope you're all doing OK and staying safe. 

There's not been much to celebrate these past few months, so I'm really pleased to have a small piece of good news to announce. 

The third book in the Robot Babysitter series I've been doing for Stripes/Little Tiger Press comes out today! 

A ROBOT ATE MY GRANDMA finds the gang in another mess of trouble – this time with a mystery to solve. When Grandma goes missing and appears to have been replaced by a mechanical version of herself (AKA RoboGran), the twins' robot babysitter Robin activates his built-in detective mode and gets on the case (with Digby the dog as Dr Watson!). Unfortunately, Robin starts malfunctioning, and then a pair of strange and unexpected visitors arrive. Will they provide what the gang needs to solve the mystery or make things even worse? Only time will tell …

I had a lot of fun writing this one and, as always, Catalina has produced some fantastic illustrations to bring the characters and the action alive on the page. 

If you'd like a sneak preview, there's a video of me reading chapter one at the top of the page – I hope you enjoy it.

Take care and all the best
Dave

PS. If you'd like a sample of the second story in the series, you can watch Is My Teacher a Robot? here.

The first two stories in the series are also available as audiobooks, read by the excellent Peter Kenny.

Is My Teacher a Robot? Video extract

Hi folks,

I hope all is well with you and yours.

Is My Teacher a Robot? – the second story in the 'Robot Babysitter' series came out back in February and I've been meaning to record an extract ever since. 

With schools closed and events cancelled or postponed, I've put the unexpected free time to good use and finally put the above video together.

It's me reading the start of the story accompanied by Catalina Echeverri's excellent illustrations from the book. Those of a certain age will spot that I'm channeling a 1970s Jackanory vibe here with the somewhat shoogly animation! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I'm thinking Rhubarb and Custard for the next one …?

Take care and all the best,
Dave 

Writing Prompt (Title Series #2) – I Laughed So Much I Cried!

When was the last time you did this? Write about something funny that happened, or make up something that might!

Continuing the series of title prompts – just a single word or phrase to spark an idea.

Write a short story, a poem, a song, draw a comic, make a film, weave flowers into an ornate tapestry of hilarity – it's totally up to you. (PS. If anyone does that last one, please post a picture!)

Good luck. See if you can have a laugh with this one …

ROBOTS! EVERYWHERE! "Is My Teacher a Robot?" paperback and "My Babysitter is a Robot" AUDIOBOOK - OUT NOW!

Hi folks,

You know how you can sit around for ages waiting for a robot to arrive and then suddenly two show up at once? No wait … that's buses! (Does that joke still work in these days of service cuts? Let's not go there.)

Anyway, I am very happy to announce that the next book in the series, that started with My Babysitter is a Robot last year, is now available.

  
IS MY TEACHER A ROBOT? is illustrated by the very talented Catalina Echeverri who is currently working on the pages for the third installment, due out in August.

Lots of stories start with an idle WHAT IF? For example, what if you woke up one day and could understand what animals were saying? (Feed me, probably!) Or maybe, what if you turned up at school to discover that your teacher had been replaced by a robot. Would that be good or bad? The answers are all here!

I promised you two robots and I'm a man of my word …

I've always been a big fan of audiobooks. From the days when I would sit in my bedroom making Airfix models while listening to James Herriot's vet books on cassette and getting gently high on the fumes of Polystyrene Cement and White Spirit (as a result Herriot has always been the Hendrix of the literary world for me!) to long car journeys with my own kids listening to Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men. 

Therefore, I was delighted to be invited to narrate the audiobook for WAITING FOR GONZO a few years ago, but even more chuffed to discover that Peter Kenny would be reading the first two robot stories. My Babysitter is a Robot audiobook is available now and had me laughing out loud (I'm probably not supposed to say that, but hey …) So if you need something to keep the nippers quiet on the motorway up to see Grandma …

That's it. No more robots until the summer, unless you happen to see me at an event somewhere, in which case please do come and say hello.

As always, thanks for your support and for taking the time to read this rambling nonsense.

Take care of yourselves
Dave

My Babysitter is a Robot! New book – out now!

Hi folks! I hope this message finds you well. It's been a while since I posted here, but I've been busy touring schools, moving house, and most importantly, writing a new series of books for Stripes / Little Tiger Press. The first of which, I'm delighted to announce, is out today!

When Grandma creates a robot babysitter for twins Jake and Jess, chaos ensues! Robin is embarrassing, clumsy and, worst of all, programmed to make them do their homework. They're also pretty sure he thinks their dog is a baby. The twins decide they have to do something before everyone realizes that Robin is a robot. But getting rid of their new babysitter will mean putting aside their sibling squabbles and working together, which might be an even bigger challenge...

Illustrated by the talented Catalina Echeverri, My Babysitter is a Robot is the first of four books about a robot and the family he is supposed to be looking after. If you're aged 7+ and like to laugh at robots getting into mischief, this could be one for you!

Best wishes, Dave