ROLIE POLIE OLIE By William Joyce

Any book that features robots dancing around is a book worth owning! William Joyce--creator of Dinosaur Bob and George Shrinks--brings his expansive, wildly colored illustrations to the story of a cute, buglike robot and his family.

Rolie Polie Olie lives on a faraway planet with his mom and pop, his sister Zowie, and his doggie Spot. They spend a pretty ordinary day playing, working, eating, and getting ready for bed in this delightfully modest tale of robotic family happiness.

Joyce's bouncy prose is engaging enough to be read aloud time and again: "You're Rolie hot and Polie tired. Your motor's zapped. Your piston's fired. Yes, okey dokey is the day when all you Rolie did was play." The illustrations are vintage Joyce, with a 1930s deco look that's polished without being soulless. The pictorial lushness is a nice counterpoint to the simplicity of the tale, which devotes a grand full-page spread to the little-known fact that "The Rolie Polie Rumba Dance was always done in underpants!" --Claire Dederer

Reading level: Ages 2 and up
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins; Reprint edition (January 24, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060534842
ISBN-13: 978-0060534844

About the Author

A true luminary and creative spirit, William Joyce has put his personal stamp on children's media in every direction. His picture books include George Shrinks, Dinosaur Bob and Santa Calls; he's won three Emmy awards for his Rolie Polie Olie animated series; developed character concepts for Toy Story and A Bug's Life; and his films include Robots and Meet the Robinsons. He's currently co-directing Rise of the Guardians for DREAMWORKS, and is producing The Leaf Men, based on his picturebook. He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana with his lovely wife, Elizabeth, and their son Jack and is the founder of Moonbot Studios.