Billie Blaster and the Robot Army from Outer Space

Gr 3-7–Ten-year-old Billie Blaster is no ordinary girl. The child of two geniuses, Billie has shown her own ingenuity via her many incredible inventions, from floating cheese puffs to RoBuRt, a robot-building-robot. But not everyone appreciates her always coming in first place at the Science Fair, especially tiny Hector Glum, her rival. When Emperor Mwahaha comes to earth in search of blasters and Hector joins his ranks, Billie and her friend, Lucy the goat, must travel to the Planet Bonk to stop them. There they must team up with Bonkers, such as a toilet-weasel, to save humanity. Homage seems to have been paid to Dr. Seuss in this book in regard to some character designs and the quirky language. The vividly colored artwork has a textured feel to it, and the slightly chaotic appearance meshes well with the zany words in the text, such as “Znort.” There are a few lessons tucked into this tale, though they can be somewhat lost in the brisk pace set by the book.