BOOK NAME: UNPLUGGED
AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: STEVE ANTONY
PAGES: 32
PUBLISHER: HODDER CHILDREN’S BOOKS
AGE RECOMMENDED: 3+
The story of Unplugged is all about Blip, a little robot who spent her life plugged into the computer. Being plugged in is enjoyable for Blip, as it allowed her to learn new things, play games, and visit faraway places. She can do this all day,, every day until there was an unexpected power cut. Suddenly, Blip tripped over her wire and tumbled out of the house….becoming unplugged in the process! Before she knows it, Blip is outside and soon finds she can still do all the things she loved on the computer. She even makes new friends in the form of a duck, rabbit, and deer. As the day ends, Blip decides it’s time to return home and back inside. Once plugged back in, Blip realises that although the computer can be fun, it is nothing like being unplugged.
I loved how the author compared technology with outdoor time. A great reminder for adults and kids to spend time with nature and stay away from technology or digital screen. Unplugged is a reminder for us to discover the world beyond technology. In this technology-filled world, it is very difficult to spend time outdoors. But disconnecting from screens and gadgets and reading a book or playing with kids can always be a part of being unplugged. No one can stay away from gadgets, but productively we are using them is the point of unplugged.
The illustrations are so good and the author describes the inside computer world as grey and the outside natural world with bright colours. This comparison will help young kids to understand too much of the screen is bad and will eventually harm them.
This is also a great book to learn many outdoor games and also go for a scavenger hunt or nature walk or adults can reminisce their old outdoor play.
This story introduced a very new concept for Nathan, ‘Robot’. He was curious to know about robots and to help him understand better, we prepared a simple robot craft. He named it a robot family.
To make the above craft, you will need
- An empty box like a soapbox or toothpaste box or a biscuit box
- old newspapers or any paper
- Aluminium foil
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
- Pom poms
- cellophane tape/ Glue
How to make,
- Take the empty box and start stuffing waste papers inside
- Tape the ends secure.
- Cover the box with aluminium foil—now your base is ready
- Start decorating your robot with any knick-knacks you like
Note: We didn’t have glue and so we used cellophane tape. You can use glue to stick the eyes and pom-poms. You can also use thermocol sheets, foam bases to make this simple craft.
What can you discuss further?
- What is a robot?
- What can a robot do?
- Why spending more time on television, computer and phone is the harm?
- What is a power cut?
- How can you strike a balance between screen time and outdoor time?
- How efficiently you can use your screen time?
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Drop your views below—how you are unplugging gadgets from your life.
