Runaway Robot

Critics Review

• a comic and compelling tale set in a near-future filled with automated buses and dust-hog street cleaners, uproariously illustrated by Steven Lenton

  Guardian

• What a funny, charming, life-affirming book

  Richard Osman

• Two more maestros of children’s fiction with moral compasses just as finely tuned remained surefire reads. Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s latest was Runaway Robot (Macmillan), a madcap escapade starring a boy and a delusional bot.

  Observer, best books of the year review

• A riotous adventure

  Daily Telegraph

• The world he imagines is cleverly conceived and the spirit of fun and adventure is pure Cottrell Boyce, but there are also messages about acceptance and diversity, tucked away between the madcap antics, which will resonate with readers of every age. Expect plenty of laughs, some unexpected twists and turns, and a big smile as the last page turns.

  Lancashire Evening Post

• A funny and heartwarming adventure

  Ni4Kids

• A brilliantly observed and sensitively written story about two unlikely best friends who help rebuild each other. There were plenty of moments which really made me chuckle but also some shocking reveals and scenes which made my bottom lip tremble a little. I would definitely recommend it for readers aged 8+

  Library girl

• Storytelling at its snortingly-funny, hugely enjoyable and heartily-emotional best… a little bit warm and wise, a little bit tender and touching; there is a LOT to love about this book

  The Reader Teacher

• Frank’s imagining of this futuristic world where pizza ovens deliver your pizza and driverless buses is really brilliant. Strangely it feels like you could touch it, it’s so close and yet in my mind it still feels like a lifetime away. For me that made the story feel more real and added to the warmth I felt about this compelling tale. The characterisation is genuinely brilliant and wonderfully diverse

  BookLover Jo

• I was really looking forward to reading this book and I can honestly say I was not disappointed. This is a tale of humour, humanity and two friends trying to get to the truth

  Books For Topics

• Cottrell-Boyce writes with confidence and flair, spilling his story into the reader’s head with artistry and comedy, so that readers are equally amused and enthralled, but also touched with a large brush of heart. He has a keen eye for human quirks, and seeing them play out both robotically as well as in humans, is rather fun. And Steven Lenton’s illustrations create that extra dimension of humour.

  Minerva Reads

• this is a story that will stick in the reader’s mind long after the last page is read

  Parents In Touch

• hilarious, complex and hugely satisfying

  Booktrust

• Confidently written with heart and humour, the unputdownable Runaway Robot will have children roaring with laughter and wanting a best friend robot of their own!

  Armadillo

• Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s Runaway Robot (Macmillan, £12.99, 9+) is a masterpiece that deserves to sell millions. Lonely Alfie has a bionic arm, and when he truants from school and comes across Eric, a one-legged humanoid robot, it sets off a series of hair-raising events with a precision that has you laughing one moment and crying the next.

  New Statesman

• As ever from Cottrell Boyce, well-developed characters and an engaging storyline.

  NB Magazine