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, 11:37, 10 January 2013
{{infobox
|title=No-Bot, The Robot With No Bottom
|sort=No-Bot, The Robot With No Bottom
|author=Sue Hendra
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0857074454
|pages=32
|publisher=Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
|date=January 2013
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857074458</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0857074458</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=Silly, funny, and very enjoyable to read!
}}
The prospects look good for a story when you're already laughing at the front cover, never mind what's inside. There we have him, our little red robot, holding onto his bottom and giving a coy-looking smile to us as readers. Already we're wondering how he ends up with no bottom, and whether the inside of the story will be as funny as the outside. No-Bot, happily, doesn't disappoint. You can't go wrong, really, with a funny red robot who has lost his bottom can you? Just saying the word 'bottom' to small children usually reduces them to giggles!
Poor old Bernard the robot loses his bottom in the park. He jumps off the swing and doesn't notice that he's left his bottom behind! Once he realises and rushes back to the park it's too late - his bottom has gone! He then has to go on a bit of a hunt to try and find out where his bottom is. But don't worry, he doesn't have to search alone as there are plenty of helpful friends in the park who think they might have seen Bernard's bottom.
Bird was using it for her nest, but it turned out to be too heavy. So then Bear was using it in his drum kit, but it made a funny noise and now he doesn't know where it is. They search high and low, but there's no sign of a bottom anywhere. Poor Bernard! He isn't a robot, he's a no-bot! Before you start feeling too sad let me reassure you, he does find his bottom in the end, so all is well. And we're told, thankfully, that Bernard never lost his bottom again, but in the picture accompanying those words we see Bernard getting off the swing at the park and this time he's left behind his arm!
The pictures in this book really compliment the story. Bernard is an endearing little robot with big eyes and a friendly face. All his animal friends, too, are sweetly drawn. I especially like Bear sitting in a pair of green wellies, happily playing his drum kit! I also laughed at a small illustration of a rather large seal riding a bike (Bernard's friends think that the basket might be the bottom!)
The story is well-timed, and the ending is brilliant - my daughter laughed really hard when she saw what he'd left behind on the swing at the end! This is a fun story to share with toddlers and those slightly older too, and it bears up well to repeated reading.
You might also enjoy [[Wendel's Workshop by Chris Riddell]] and [[Baby Brains and RoboMum by Simon James]]
{{amazontext|amazon=0857074458}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9164692}}
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