Meep by Márie Zepf & Paddy Donnelly – The Strawberry Post

A book review of a fun children’s book about a robot called Meep who heads to Mars to report on what is there, but is there any alien life, and what happens when Meep loses contact with Earth?

About Meep

 Title: Meep
Author: Márie Zepf
Illustrator: Paddy Donnelly
Publisher: Little Island Books
Genre: Children’s picture book
Book format reviewed: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries:

Description:  Meep is the smartest robot ever built.  She’s bound for Mars, to explore the planet and maybe meet some aliens.
She sends back lots of pictures, but there’s no sign of life anywhere.  Then, disaster strikes…
Can our brave little robot survive, all alone?
The story of Meep, the hardest-working robot in the solar system, is a tale of love and friendship that will inspire earthlings of all ages.
Originally published in Ireland as Míp, winner of a Literacy Association of Ireland Award, and now translated into English by the author for the first time.

*Free copy provided by publisher for review…

My review and thoughts on Meep

Aw, this is such a sweet and fun story! When scientists built Meep they were excited as they couldn’t wait for Meep to go to Mars and start transmitting images and data back from there in the hope they might find a lot of things including maybe alien life. When Meep finally reaches Mars, she begins travelling around the planet’s surface. But no matter how much she travels and what data she collects, aliens don’t seem to be exist on the planet…or do they? This paperback is filled with thick matt pages of some brilliant and fun illustrations and text.

Meep is a robot, sent to Mars to explore the planet’s surface and while there she transmits lots of data about the rocks, ice and other things she finds, back to the scientists on Earth, but no matter how far she travels she never sees any signs of alien life. As Meep spends longer and longer on the planet she begins losing parts of her body, first it’s a leg or two, then an antenna, and then a disaster happens and Meep stops transmitting. I like what happens in this story as Meep begins exploring Mars and we get to see through the illustrations what exactly is happening with her.

The pictures are all so wonderful, colourful and fun and there are fun things to spot in all the images of Meep on Mars. In fact a good part of the story is told through the pictures alone, and I won’t say what happens when Meep stops transmitting, but it’s a story that will make you smile when you see what it is that occurs. The story has a wonderful ending, a much better one than most real life Mars rovers/robots end up having, and I do like how Meep feels like more than a machine in this but a real character herself. Overall a lovely picture book with some fun extras to spot, fantastic illustrations and a very fun and heartwarming story.

Other books by Márie Zepf

-Read review – Rita Wants a Genie by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #6)
-Read review – Rita Wants a Dragon by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #5)
-Read review – Rita Wants a Fairy Godmother by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #4)
-Read review – Rita Wants a Ninja by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #3)
Read review – Rita Wants a Robot by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #2)
-Read review – Rita Wants a Witch by Márie Zepf & Mr Ando (Rita #1)

Other children’s picture books about or set in space

-Read review – Our Galaxy: A First Adventure in Space by Sue Lowell Gallion & Lisk Feng (Our World Collection)
-Read review – Learn with Peppa Pig: Exploring Space
-Read review – Curiosity: The Story of the Mars Rover by Markus Motum
-Read review – Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond by Martin Jenkins & Stephen Biesty
-Read review – Snakes in Space by Kathryn Dennis (Snakes #3)

What do you think of this book?  Are you interested in what life could be on Mars or other planets?  Would you ever take a trip to Mars if it were possible?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂