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Oh No!: (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)    by Mac Barnett & Dan Santat Amazon.com order for
Oh No!
by Mac Barnett
Order:  USA  Can
Hyperion, 2010 (2010)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

Science is really my best subject, so when I entered the school science fair I fully expected to win. Of course, I did get the First Place ribbon but, boy oh boy, did I make a mistake.

Clever is my middle name but this time I was way too clever. Why? Because I constructed a robot. He was really pretty cool but he had some Frankenstein qualities too and because I left a few things out, I couldn't control him.

I really didn't think my robot would go berserk or go on a rampage after the awards ceremony. But, alas, he did. Giving him a superclaw, a laser eye and the power to control dogs' minds wasn't a swift idea either.

Eventually, I realized something had to be done about my out-of-control robot. I shouted, 'Hey, Robot! Knock it off already!' But that didn't really work.

Next, I held up a sign saying, 'Cut it out, Buster!' Did that do the trick? Nope! I had forgotten to teach my robot to read. Then I hit him on the foot with a big sledge hammer. Nothing! Darn. I remembered I didn't program him to feel pain either.

Certainly I made a few mistakes when I made my robot, but I suddenly had a great idea. I took a toad I had at home in a jar and worked day and night in my lab transforming him into a humongous creature that could attack and destroy the runaway robot.

Eventually, Toad was ready so I let him face off against the robot. 'Toad, attack!' I shouted. Well, that was good-bye, robot. Everything worked out nicely except for one little problem. That darn toad was now a little out of control! Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back to my lab to figure something else out!

Let me assure you that this is not a scary picture book. In fact, it is actually pretty funny. If you are three years of age or older you'll probably like it a lot, although I think older kids will get more of a kick out of it.

After reading Oh No! you might want to invent something or work on a project you can take to school. Just be careful, though. You wouldn't want to repeat the mistakes I did by not thinking the project all the way through.

Be very careful if you decide to use the plans and diagrams inside my book's cover for making a robot or transforming a toad because we know what can go wrong if you make a mistake!

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