‘Cats vs. Robots,’ free giveaway copy arrives

Readers may recall that I won a Goodreads Giveaway of Cats vs. Robots #1, This Is War. It arrived this week, and my verdict is that the book is a delightful and entertaining read.

It’s the first book in a new children’s book series by Margaret Stohl and Lewis Peterson.

The story centers around two galactic empires that consist of seemingly polar opposites — the Robots, or “Binars,” who are obsessed with order and rules, and the Cats, for whom rules are “generally meant to be followed — but only if you felt like it.”

These civilizations’ epic battle is now coming to Earth — specifically, to the home of a human family, where husband-and-wife scientists have invented a “Singularity Chip” that can enable cats to live past their nine lives or grant robots eternal battery life. Each side of the conflict is determined that the chip must not fall into the enemy’s paws — or grasping appendages.
​
From start to finish, I found so much to enjoy and appreciate in this thoroughly engaging book.

To begin with, the book encourages readers to move beyond “binary” thinking, of believing that something has to be all of one thing or all of something else. Girl or Boy. Cat or Robot. Organized or Chaotic. However you delineate things that you believe to be complete opposites.

In earlier comments, I mentioned the book incorporating Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — abbreviated in education communities as STEM (or, as I prefer it, STEAM, which also encompasses Arts). Well, robotics, coding, and computer programming are all integral to this story.

But one other area where I feel that readers may benefit is in emotional literacy ... to an ability to identify your feelings. Two human twins, Min and Max, experience a range of emotions as they interact with two mischievous kittens and an older cat whose health is failing. One of their household robots also experiences compassion toward a being whom she has been taught is “the enemy.”

My thanks to everyone involved with this book for the chance to read this advance copy. This book would be a great addition to the children’s collection in a library.