ALA Booklist (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Dressed in a tux and red bow tie, Robot begins his day in his usual fashion plugging from his nightly charge, munching a slice of bread, and heading out into the world. But as he walks down Electric Avenue, everything changes. He spots someone so beautiful and shiny that he can't get her out of his head. McBeth intentionally keeps her identity hidden for a comical reveal later in the story, focusing instead on Robot's reactions, which hit on the clichés of being in love, in a way designed to get kids giggling. He stops to smell a flower a woman's hat; he joyfully leaps into a puddle and momentarily short circuits. The next day, he sees her again and, with hearts in his eyes, attests, "My circuit board nearly jumped out of my chest unit." When he finally musters the courage to approach her, she's gone, and a panicked search ensues. Endearing and rendered exclusively in black, white, and red, Robot's cartoonish love story ends with a happily-ever-after that will send kids' laugh functions into overdrive.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

The robot narrator is in love ("I had never seen anyone so beautiful. / She was so shiny"). Readers don't learn who "she" is until book's end when the robot finally approaches its crush: a toaster in a shop ("She said nothing. But she didn't have to"). It's a good gag, with cartoony art that's a smidge limited in appeal by its valentine-card palette.

Kirkus Reviews

McBeth's author/illustrator debut is an unlikely love story.Robot's routine day—unplug, eat a slice of bread, leave when its wristwatch beeps—is interrupted when it sees her on Electric Avenue (yes, really). While readers aren't privy to her identity until the end, they do get clues: She's shiny, their connection is "electric," and their meeting spot seems to be a store window. Meanwhile, bowtie-and-business-suit-clad Robot's life is changed forever. It has hearts for pupils, it doesn't watch where it's going, it sniffs flowers and jumps in puddles (not recommended for robots), its "hydraulic limbs felt weak." It spends an evening making her some flowers out of old metal parts, but she's gone from their meeting place. Its robotic systems fail to detect her anywhere (though readers will laugh at the language used to describe this: "scanning…negative"). But then it gets an idea and runs back to the store, this time going inside, where it finds its own true love. Sure, she doesn't say a word and people give them strange looks, but Robot doesn't seem to care. "We have so much in common. We're both shy. We're both shiny. // We both love toast." The black, white, gray, pink, and red artwork is angular and stylized, suiting the high-tech subject matter, and McBeth has found a way to give a metal robot a heart and feelings through body language and facial expressions.A love story that's anything but robotic. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

It-s an ordinary day until Robot, dressed in a sharp tuxedo jacket and red bow tie, falls in love on Electric Ave.: -I had never seen anyone so beautiful. She was so shiny.- Spare, comiclike sequences unfold in shades of light red, pink, white, gray, and black. Building anticipation, McBeth (Stegothesaurus) doesn-t initially reveal Robot-s beloved-but Robot-s big, oval eyes and small mouth convey the depth of his emotions as he runs into traffic and walks into a puddle while thinking about her, then nearly malfunctions while readying himself to say hello. It turns out that Robot-s true love is behind glass in a department store window, and readers are sure to be amused by the duo ice skating and enjoying a romantic dinner once her identity is divulged. However, Robot-s approach to courtship-standing outside her window and all but yanking the object of his affection from her store display (-She said nothing. But she didn-t have to.-)-could use a significant upgrade. Ages 4-8. (Dec.)