"This offbeat hero's journey begins with a description of a typical day at the factory where pink-cheeked, multi-armed ARLO ("Automated Robotic Line Operator") works. He and 11 slightly smaller robots "power up, juice joints, grease gears, and rattle to the assembly line," where he "katinkers six tools at the same time." He's the only robot who uses break time to tinker; his inventions garner interest from the little robots but stern resistance from the apparently managerial "big bots." ARLO adores his factory work, but "his bolts buzz for something...more." When a storm leaves a hole in the factory wall, ARLO catapults into an exciting world of flowers, frogs, and trees—but no charging station. After successfully figuring out how to recharge himself with a little help from the natural world, he surmounts more obstacles before returning to his factory home, where all the little robots have been powered down. He tinkers until the little robots are functional. Together, they rebuild and improve their environment—and re-create some of ARLO's newest inventions, which now reflect the natural world. Once the large bots have been repowered, will they grant permission for ARLO's changes? Gholz's lively text is peppered with the sounds of imaginative robotic language and onomatopoeia, well matched by Haley's art, which effectively portrays cute, round-eyed robots, drab factory conditions, and colorful, comical nature scenes."
——Kirkus Review

In ARLO's grim, mechanical world, every day is just the same.

ARLO powers up, greases his gears, and works on the assembly line like the rest of the robots. But unlike the others, ARLO longs for something different. And one day, a storm changes everything—leaving ARLO to discover, and revel in, the wilderness beyond the factory walls.

Join ARLO as he explores the unknown, learns that home is where the metal heart is, and that something different can be created in many ways. A story about creativity, change, and growing where you're planted.

Sophia Gholz is an award-winning author whose books include Bug on the Rug, The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng, and more. When she isn’t exploring the great outdoors, you can find Sophia in a library, visiting schools or working on her next book.

MacKenzie Haley is an award-winning illustrator born, raised, and living in Louisville, Kentucky with her two cats, Booger and Abby. She is the illustrator of Dolly Parton's Billy the Kid series, as well as A Book for Bear, and The Scariest Kitten in the World. When she's not drawing or playing with her cats, she can be found spending time with her friends and family, and learning what's currently "cool" from her twelve-year-old niece, and eight-year-old nephew.