Peter Brown’s inspiration for, arguably, the world’s most beloved robot, came from completely out of the blue.
It was during the acclaimed youth author/illustrator’s sketches for another book that the sketch of a robot in a forest just appeared on the page.
“I was working on a picture book called ‘The Curious Garden,’ which is about nature living in a sort of dreary, industrial city,” he began. “I was thinking a lot about the theme of natural things and unnatural things coexisting in the same space, so that’s how my brain leaked to an inverse scenario – instead of something natural living in an unnatural place, what’s the opposite of that? An unnatural thing living in a natural place. So I thought about a robot as being an unnatural thing, and put it in the most natural place I could picture.”
Thus began the creation of “The Wild Robot,” which has spawned three books and a 2024 movie that received three Oscar nominations at the 97th Academy Awards March 2. If enthusiastic public response is an indication, the story of Roz the robot is just beginning. More “Wild Robot” books are in the works, and there’s already talk of a film sequel.
Brown will be in Los Altos – virtually, anyway – 1-3 p.m. Sunday (March 30) for the Los Altos Library Endowment’s free showing of “The Wild Robot” film. The free screening, sponsored by Los Altos Library Endowment, will be followed by a remote meeting with Brown. He plans to discuss the books and movie as well as entertain questions from the audience. Also, be prepared for a drawing demonstration. The screening will take place in the Grand Oak Room at the Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave.
What it’s about
The first book, released in 2016, relates the story of a robot stranded on a remote island and making friends with the animals for survival. Robot Roz takes an orphaned goose, Brightbill, under her care. Brown has said kindness as a survival skill was the theme for his book, aimed at middle-schoolers but resonating with all ages.
Brown, a Maine resident, went to art school in Pasadena with an emphasis on illustration. His next project is a picture book, “The Wild Robot on the Island,” which is a visual retelling of his novel. The book is scheduled for a June release.
“I was quite happy, actually, with how the art turned out in the novels, but they were mostly black illustrations,” Brown said. “I thought it would be fun to depict Roz’s life in these full color, big, detailed illustrations. … I’m trying to make something for fans of the novels to enjoy, and also it’s kind of an introduction to that whole world, maybe for younger readers.”
He’s in also in the early stages of a fourth “Wild Robot” novel.
“Who knows, maybe there’ll be one after that,” Brown said. “The thing that’s so fascinating to me about these stories, the life experience of a robotic character in a very natural environment – there’s sort of no end to the interesting scenarios that I can come up with for this character. Wouldn’t it be interesting if Roz were to explore the ocean? Would it be interesting if Roz were to travel around the world? I don’t know how many ‘Wild Robot’ books there’ll end up being.”
‘Wild Robot’ the movie
In the wake of “The Wild Robot” becoming a bestseller, DreamWorks Animation bought the screenplay in 2016, and Chris Sanders was chosen to direct. The film had an $80 million budget.
For time and attention-grabbing reasons, the movie did deviate from the book. It downplayed some characters to give more screen time to others.
“Some of the changes they made make sense to me, and I think were probably necessary,” Brown said. He pointed to Roz’s design in which the head has more movement for communication with the other characters.
“Some of the other changes they made didn’t make sense to me. And so, listen, these are great problems to have,” Brown said. “Overall, I think they did an outstanding job.”
Brown’s mother was a special education teacher, his dad an engineer at a jet propulsion laboratory. He sees the influence of both of his parents in his work.
“My parents were so good at what they did and were so passionate about what they did that a little bit of that rubbed off on me and made me, with all of my books, but especially the wild robot books, want to go the extra mile,” Brown said. “I like the idea that scientists, people who specialize in artificial intelligence, would read this book, and sort of nod along, and be like, yeah, actually, that kind of works.
“I wrote it in a way where I thought, maybe someday in the future, something like this could actually happen. … I’ve tried to be very careful with the way that I wrote the story so that it actually reflected real life.”
Uncertainty
Early in the creation of his first “Robot” book, Brown was unsure how it would connect with the public.
“I had this little voice in my head that was saying, ‘Peter, this is a really weird story. … Who else is going to care about this story?’ I remember, just before the book was published, I went out for coffee with my editor, and I asked her, ‘What have I done here? Is this good?’ She was like, ‘You did a great thing, Peter, this book is really special, … (but) I don’t know if it’s going to resonate with people.’ So there was this little concern in the back of my mind when the book first came out. I have to say, pretty quickly it became clear that people were into it. It was an instant bestseller, and it was welcomed into the educator community.”
He credited teachers and librarians for the book’s popularity.
But what accounted for it?
“Roz is a real hero, and we love her, and we’re pulling for her, and there’s a lot of life lessons. I get into different aspects of nature and technology throughout the series. I think teachers have really found that it’s a great way kids are excited to read a book that allows them to then segue into all these other relevant subjects.”
Families also are into it, particularly adoptive families.
“They want a heartwarming adventure story that involves an adoptive family and we’ve got that.”
In addition, the “Robot” series works with kids who have dyslexia or are on the autistic spectrum.
“The writing style is very clear, direct, and kids who struggle with reading are able to follow along, because everything is very clear,” Brown said. “One of the highest compliments I can receive, and I get this regularly, is from kids who tell me that when they read the ‘Wild Robot,’ they can picture everything that’s happening in their mind as they’re reading.”
The Los Altos Library Endowment supports library-related programs across Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Santa Clara County. For more information, visit lalendow.org.
