Down the Chimney with Googol and Googolplex

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

Robots Googol and Googolplex are on a mission to Earth to collect items
for a scavenger hunt. They land on Pippa and Troy’s house and confuse
the chimney for the back door. Pippa and Troy are intrigued by the
robots that came down the chimney, and are happy to help them collect
the items they need. To gather snowballs they must travel in the
robots’ spaceship to the North Pole. There they have a marvellous time
introducing the robots to snow angels, snowmen, and snowball fights, but
they manage to get back home in time for dinner. The next day the
children have an exciting time keeping the robots a secret from the
bully next door, who cannot make anyone believe that he actually saw a
robot disappear into thin air. The robots must leave to go back to their
sunship to recharge, but undoubtedly they will return to finish
collecting the items on their list.

This early chapter book is imaginative and entertaining. There is a
good deal of humour in the robots’ reactions to things on Earth and in
the way they express themselves. The situation with the bully provides a
nice comical touch as well. The author’s own illustrations make it
easy to visualize the robots and their ship as well as the other
characters. A very enjoyable selection. Recommended.