Runaway Robot
Page 16
Of course, one of the good things that modern robots can do is help us get rid of landmines.
Eric wasn’t really a robot. He was what we call an automaton. He couldn’t go off on his own like Oppy. He couldn’t make decisions like next door’s lawn mower. But, by building him, Reffell and Richards made us think what a real robot might be like. This is always happening in science. Someone has to imagine what it would be like to fly to the moon before anyone starts building a rocket. Dreaming is every bit as important as building.
Modern robots do lots of good, important work. But they wouldn’t exist if people like Richards and Reffell hadn’t had fun playing about with ideas in an old garage in Surrey.
I knew nothing about Eric until my friend and editor Sarah Dudman showed me some clips of him speaking – you can still find them on YouTube. Normally Sarah reads my books when they’re almost finished and shows me how to make them better. But this time she was there at the beginning as well as the end. When the idea got lost and started to rust – like Eric – she dug it out of its hiding place and sprayed it with WD-40, and got it going again. Thank you, Sarah – like never before.
Thank you too to the wise and patient Venetia Gosling, who let me keep going at this book until the story was right.
And of course to the mighty Steven Lenton, who brings all my imaginings to life.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an award-winning author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children’s novel, won the CILIP Carnegie Medal. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children’s Fiction Award (now the Costa Book Award), the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award.
Frank is a judge for BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words competition and, along with Danny Boyle, devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. He lives in Merseyside with his family.
Steven Lenton is based in Brighton and loves to illustrate books, filling them with charming, fun characters that really capture children’s imaginations. As well as illustrating Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s multi-award winning books, he is the illustrator of the bestselling and award-winning Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series. Steven also illustrates the Nothing To See Here Hotel series, the first of which won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Fiction Book Award 2018.
StevenLenton.com
Praise for Frank Cottrell-Boyce:
MILLIONS
‘Deliciously funny’ Guardian
‘Pure gold’ Scotsman
COSMIC
‘He has something of Roald Dahl’s magic, but more heart’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Five-laughs-a-page, fall-off-the-chair funny’ Mail on Sunday
FRAMED
‘Heart-warming – a delight’ Guardian
‘Full of jokes and touching moments’ Sunday Times
THE ASTOUNDING BROCCOLI BOY
‘Classic Cottrell-Boyce: brilliantly funny, believable and very human’ Bookseller
‘A funny, silly and underlyingly serious story about self-belief . . . and the value of being nice to people’ Sunday Times
SPUTNIK’S GUIDE TO LIFE ON EARTH
‘A wonderful and exciting story about friendship and appreciating what you have’ Independent
Also by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Millions
Framed
Cosmic
The Astounding Broccoli Boy
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth
The Great Rocket Robbery (World Book Day 2019)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon
First published 2019 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2019 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-8646-3
Text copyright © Frank Cottrell-Boyce 2019
Illustrations copyright © Steven Lenton 2019
Illustrated by Steven Lenton
The right of Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Steven Lenton to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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