BLINK AND BLOCK MAKE A WISH

One treasure of a penny + one wish = two new friends.

Robots are childhood favorites, and Blink (round and blue) and Block (square and purple), each equipped with pipestem limbs and a sensor, are remarkably expressive. In the beginning, a frowning Block sits alone on a bench along the path to school when an optimistic Blink wanders by scanning for gold, silver, and gems. The more-knowledgeable Block doubts Blink will be successful, especially when Blink finds only a bottle cap and a chewing-gum wrapper—with gum in it. “Ewww.” Still, Blink perseveres and finds a penny, crowing that a penny “can turn into a wish!” There is no wishing well or fountain nearby, so a resourceful Blink throws the penny in a (wishing?) puddle. Block can’t understand Blink’s joyful dance that follows. Blink’s wish couldn’t have come true; after all, Block doesn’t see any gold, silver, or gems. “That’s because I didn’t wish for those things,” explains Blink. Instead, Blink wished for a new friend. With a handshake, the new friendship is sealed, and the two smiling friends set off to find more wishes. Two to four uncluttered but colorful panels per spread create a clear and easy-to-read format, and graceful, unobtrusively repetitious text supports new readers. An info page on sensors concludes the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Amply demonstrates the values of a positive attitude and a little creative thinking.