Maya's Mischievous Little Robot
When 5-year-old Maya's homemade robot miraculously springs to life, she names it Rusty and has to work to keep it secret from her family while having fun adventures together
Five-year-old Maya loves visiting her grandfather's workshop. It's full of tools, gadgets, and all kinds of spare parts.
One sunny afternoon while her grandfather steps out, Maya looks around for something fun to build. She grabs some metal scraps, nuts, bolts, and spare wires.
Carefully she assembles the parts into a little robot. Maya gives it a square body, long spindly arms, short stumpy legs, and a box-shaped head. Then she takes a marker and draws two big oval eyes and a straight line for the mouth.
"All done!" says Maya proudly, holding up her newly built robot. Suddenly, the eyes start glowing bright blue! The robot blinks and begins walking around the workbench, waving its arms.
Maya gasps, "You're alive!" The amazing little robot she created is moving all on its own. Maya decides to name him Rusty. But she knows she has to keep Rusty a secret.
Maya quietly sneaks Rusty out of the workshop and into her house when nobody is looking. She hides him in her bedroom closet.
Over the next few days, Maya has fun teaching Rusty new things. She shows him how to draw pictures, play catch with a rubber ball, and dance around to music. Rusty beeps, buzzes, and flashes his eyes, soaking up the new information.
But sometimes Rusty starts making too much noise and chaos! When Mom comes close, Maya has to shove Rusty under the bed or in the toy box. "What was that sound?" asks Mom. "Oh nothing!" says Maya.
One morning Rusty goes wild, running around knocking things off shelves, beeping loudly. Maya catches him just as her dad walks in! She stuffs Rusty in the closet. Maya realizes she can't hide the energetic little robot forever.
Later that day, Maya gives Rusty a big hug. "I had so much fun but it's time to go back home," she whispers. Then she sneaks Rusty back to the workshop before he gets her into big trouble! She promises to come build with him again soon.