by Meredith Rusu illustrated by Martín Morón
Listen closely. Do you hear her too? I have a secret buddy who is saying “HI!” to you.
I promise that she’s friendly. She’s with me every day. But, so you know, she’ll kind of . . . fritz when things don’t go her way.
My buddy’s not a lovey or a creature made of blocks. Every morning when I get dressed, there’s a robot in my socks!!
My robot is AMAZING!
She makes things go just right and always gets things done her way from morning until night.
Mommy knows my robot. She loves her, just like me. She says that it’s okay to want things “going perfectly.”
She knows Robot likes the pink plate and bedtime stories read aloud. She needs a snuggly to take a nap, and NO bare feet allowed.
But Grandma doesn’t know my bot. She lives so far away. Now she wants some “quality time.” My robot’s NOT okay.
“We’ll be fine!” Gram tells my mom.
“A whole day, Jamie and me!”
“Okie-doke!” my mommy says.
“My phone’s on if you need.”
Grandma’s house is different. I miss my room back home. The sofa’s scratchy. Toys all wrong. My robot’s humming, OHHHHHHMMMM.
“Let’s wash your hands!” My grandma smiles.
“I bought you princess soap!” BEEP BOOP BRRRR. My robot whirs.
“MY ROBOT ANSWERS NOPE!”