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As you generally write picture

books, why did you think this story
would be best told as a middle-

grade book?

My goal for this story was to show,
step-by-step, how a robot gradually

becomes part of the wilderness. I
knew the story would require a lot

of research, careful planning, and
far more words than I could fit into

a picture book. The Wild Robot had
to be a novel. Middle-grade readers,

with their combination of curiosity,
imagination, and knowledge,

seemed like the perfect audience.

Did you do a lot of wildlife research? Do you have any fun facts from the natural
world that you can share?

I spent years doing research for this book. In the
process, I learned some really interesting facts about
nature and robots. I always had in my mind Asimov’s

Laws of Robotics: a robot may not injure a human

being, it must obey orders given to it by human beings,
and above all, it must protect its own existence.

One way of simplifying these laws was to take

advantage of what children already know about
nature and robots. I could mention those kinds of
interesting behaviours to the reader without having

to explain them scientifically, like Roz’s relationship

with her adopted gosling son.
What has been the most fun or surprising part of

writing for this age group?

This might sound crazy, but I really enjoyed writing

a story with a sad ending. Well, the ending is slightly

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