The main word that sticks out to me as I read and then finish Robo-Sauce, by Adam Rubin, is FUN! It seems that every twist and turn are created purely for the satisfaction of a kid being a kid all the way. No stopping for lessons or morals, this picture book follow through with the joke. Any young child will relate. It begins with a young boy who is disappointed by the mere pretending of being a robot, with a cardboard costume for himself and his pup. Since he can't be taken seriously, than he get's real about it and makes a special sauce that will turn him and anything he wants into robots. The narrator of Robo-Sauce is a voice who is looking in on this boys life and speaking directly to him, which makes for an interesting out loud read when it seems like you are the one telling the boy what to do and taking to him. There's an edginess to the language, young and a bit cool, which matched the illustrations. Salmieri draws this boys world with dry humor and imaginary abandon. The lines are a little chaotic in some ways yet simplistic in nature. The colors are either crazy and loud, or muted. And a very pleasing aspect is the child seem of color, which in these times shows a worldliness and awareness of the multi-background audience that may read this book It's a book of contradictions as just when you think the young boy with wake up and realize he doesn't want to be a robot or some such wisdom extolled, this book goes with it and allows the full desire to completion...a robot world. There's something satisfying about that.
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