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Rabbit Robot The Sleepover CYBILS Nominee

Ah, the sleepover. The bowls of buttery popcorn, the fuzzy PJs, the watching of movies into the wee hours, the tears and hurt feelings as young tempers fray. As a kid I looked forward to nocturnal play dates; as a parent I dreaded them.

In Cece Bells book for beginning readers, Best buds Rabbit and Robot are having their first sleepover. Its at Rabbits house and hes fairly hopping with excitement. A bit of a control freak, Rabbit has firm ideas about what should take place at a sleepover and he has a list to prove it.


1. Make pizza
2. Watch TV
3. Play Go Fish
4. Go to bed

As the poet Robert Burns famously wrote, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." Apparently, a rabbits plans too. Robot doesnt want carrots on his pizza; he prefers nuts, bolts, and screws. When he removes all the hardware from the table and chairs, the friends have no place to eat their dinner. Rabbit has a major meltdown until Robot spreads a blanket on the floor and they enjoy an indoor picnic.

Each remaining chapter deals with another item from Rabbits list. Rabbit cant find the remote to watch TV, then Robots batteries conk out while the friend are playing Go Fish, and at bedtime Robot is without PJs and has to borrow a pair from Rabbit. By lights out, Rabbit has manages to ease up enough to suggest that maybe Robot can make the next days to-do list. Maybe.

Channeling Arnold Lobels Frog and Toad characters, Bell creates her version of mismatched friends. While Rabbit always has to have his way, Robot, who resembles an anthropomorphic iPhone, is more easy-going and accommodating. The cartoony illustrations are a lot of fun, especially the ones that show Robot zigzagging around the house on his one wheel. Beginning readers are sure to enjoy this new series. Who wouldnt want a robot for a friend!

Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover
by Cece Bell
Candlewick Press, 56 pages
Published: September 2012

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