Boffin Brainchild, the world's most advanced free-thinking robot, is bored. He's been programmed to learn like a child, so standing on a plinth in the science museum is no fun. Along comes Tom. Boffin escapes with him (despite Tom's best efforts) on the school coach. What can Tom do? Terrified of being accused of stealing the robot, he disguises Boffin as a real boy. But how long can Tom fool his parents - and his school? Having the world's most valuable robot to stay is the most exciting thing, but definitely the scariest, that Tom's ever known. This collision of robotics and normality sets up a story of constant humour and tense drama, with some thought-provoking questions of science and humanity. Above all, what responsibility should Tom feel for this machine that's wished itself on him and now wants the life of a real boy? "Boffin Brainchild" is a gripping, stimulating tale from first to last.

 

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

There are 192 pages in this book. This book was published 2013 by Natterjack Books .

J. A. Jennings lives in North Yorkshire with a family of four children all of them inveterate book readers and story writers. There are two dogs, a rabbit and several guinea pigs whose writing skills are little understood. Thomas Jennings, the illustrator, is a member (human) of the same family. Jill Jennings was born and grew up in Ireland. She now lives in North Yorkshire with her family and 14 animals. A radio talk about how future robots could learn, heard in a traffic jam on the way to her dentist, inspired "Boffin". But having several uncles who were inventors and engineers probably helped too. This is Jill's second children's book. Her first was "Pyjama Jones", an adventure in which Toby Jones falls into a secret city of ancient Egyptians right under his feet and is soon running for his life!