No-bot: the robot with no bottom by Sue Hendra

Simon and Schuster, 2012. ISBN 9781471115653
(Age: 6+) Picture book. Body parts. Humour. When Bernard the robot gets off the swing at the park, he realises that his bottom is missing. He searches for his bottom, asking other animals he meets for an answer to his question. Each has seen the pieces of Bernard's bottom somewhere, and pass him on to the next animal to ask. In the illustrations the reader sees the bottom being used for a variety of things: a nest, drums, a flowerpot, a boat and a bucket for a sand castle. Each time he is just too late to get back his bottom, but in the end they are there for him to retrieve and replace on his body.
Humour abounds in this little story as the robot searches for his bottom. The other animals that help him try their hardest, but it is the robot which eventually finds what he is looking for. A story which could be used as an introduction to talking about body parts, or to defuse the anxiety some children feel about using the word bottom, or simply to talk about searching for something until it is found, asking friends for help, this book will find a place in classrooms and homes.
Fran Knight