Wants vs. Needs vs. Robots

“Rex uses boldly colored robots with varying facial expressions (from happy to sad to flummoxed) to explain to children the difference between want and need… . Contrasting robots on each page use humor and easy-to-understand language to explain trading objects that are needed to survive versus those that are wanted to look “awesome.” … Rex’s book is a unique and comic take on a relatable lesson for primary students and would make excellent supplemental material for elementary instructors looking to teach or reinforce the difference of necessity and convenience, or, in the vernacular here, wants and needs. The most valuable lesson in this entertaining picture book is about the importance of making good choices and helping others, a moral delivered painlessly and with loads of good humor.” —School Library Journal“To demonstrate the difference between true, necessary-for-survival ‘needs’ and optional ‘wants’, Rex sends a fresh cast of animated, loudly hued robots cavorting across the spreads of this follow-up to Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots (2020). While it’s partly for fun, it also functions to warn against the hazards of trading off one tool (cool boots, a remote-control platypus) for another (legs, batteries), and to introduce the idea of negotiating fair bargains or exchanges… . Food for thought—and not just for the kids.” —Booklist

Michael Rex has written and/or illustrated over forty children’s books, including Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots, Eat Pete, With Any Luck, I’ll Drive a Truck (by David Friend), and the New York Times #1 bestseller Goodnight Goon, as well as the Fangbone series (which has also been turned into an animated TV series). He has a master’s degree in visual arts education (K-12) and worked as a New York City art teacher for four years. He lives in Leonia, New Jersey, with his wife and their two sons.

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