Ellibot and Aunt Maple

 “Elliot has a very creative imagination as he creates a Robot clone, Ellibot, of himself to spend time with his Aunt Maple. Elliot is afraid that if Aunt Maple comes over to babysit him, she will make him do all sorts of boring formal activities like have a proper dinner, adult conversation, watch Aunt Maple’s shows, and live up to all of her social expectations. After sending Ellibot down the stairs to keep Aunt Maple busy, he starts to play in his room and becomes bored quickly. He sneaks downstairs to discover Aunt Maple and Ellibot are having great fun, not what he expected!  What will Elliot do? How will Aunt Maple Respond? In the end Elliot learns an important lesson. This is an adorable and creative story that explores the imagination of many young children. What child doesn’t love making things out of their toys and scraps around the house? Children love robots and will thoroughly enjoy and relate to this book. The sensory description will challenge and entertain children of many ages. The delightful illustrations of Elliot and Ellibot go hand and hand with this light-hearted, fun-loving children’s book.” A review by Jennifer Benton, 5th Grade teacher at The Children’s School of Rochester, # 15. “He tinkered. He erected. He snapped and he popped. The building blocks assembled.”Elliot had a dilemma. Aunt Maple had arrived with babysitting intentions. There would be--social expectations! Idle chatter. A long, drawn-out dinner. Everything on the television except Elliot’s favorite channel. Elliot brainstormed. From the depths of the toy box, he collected everything he needed. He tinkered and erected. Elliot sent his invention on a mission to keep Aunt Maple busy. But Elliot soon discovers that a day to himself is not what he expected.'There’s a lot to love in this little book. Ellibot and Aunt Maple introduces new words to the young reader in the context of the story. With just a little help, a child will be reading and understanding big words such as dilemma, intentions, expectations, idle, chatter, brainstormed, assembled, invention, uninterrupted, skyscrapers, teetered, sprawled, imposter, and embarrassed. The illustrations are adorable and colorful, and Aunt Maple is pictured as cute and fun. And best of all, it turns out that Elliot is an inventor whose creation really comes to life!After reading this story with you a few times, your own young reader will be able to read and understand many new big words that are fun to know and say. Your child may even be inspired to dream up their own invention to share with you! -review by Ernestine B. Colombo, author of Returning Souls 3