A Universe of Imagination: New Adventures of CROOT the Robot

By Olga Korobkova

I am holding the second book in Olga Golubyatnikova’s CROOT the Robot, the Great Inventor series: Towards a Dream. We meet familiar characters once again—Kolya and Masha from Earth and, of course, the cheerful, clever and resourceful robot CROOT. New journeys and adventures await them.

After visiting Earth and becoming friends with Masha and Kolya, CROOT searches for a way to return. His friends are waiting and hope to see him again. Interstellar travel requires a Star-Skater, however, and building one demands both a hull and a plasma core. A plasma core cannot be bought in a toy shop—Roborumb may not even have shops—and every core is counted and tightly controlled because it is of galactic importance. A suitable hull is not simply lying around the Milky Way either.

Is there no way forward? Of course there is. On the planet Aeropolis, CROOT notices that a Galaskate has been assembled incorrectly and offers to repair it so the enormous craft can take to the sky. His small hand can reach where those of adult robots cannot, allowing him to connect the plasma cores correctly. CROOT has nimble fingers and a brilliant mind, so he succeeds and receives the hull of his future ship as a reward. In this unexpected way, the little robot takes his first step towards a great dream.

The plasma core arrives as an even greater surprise: small aliens give it to him after he rescues them on the planet Jun-Jungle. Once again, mutual support and a willingness to help prove to be the most valuable qualities in any universe.

Several things in this book inspire admiration. The author’s imagination is unrestricted by earthly limits or dull realism. Consider the poetic descriptions of Ledora and the living forest of Jun-Jungle:

“An ice planet circles at the edge of Roborumb. The violet star Robus illuminates it, but its warmth cannot reach it. The planet glitters like a gemstone in violet rays. One half is covered in ice and the other in snow. Its name is Ledora.”

“Jun-Jungle is more than a tropical forest. It is alive, wise and kind. Its extraordinary plants preserve knowledge and care for one another.”

The story also values creativity, hard work and persistence—qualities not found in every children’s book today. It makes clear that even the finest idea needs patient, sometimes routine effort before it can become real. Dreams are wonderful, but they come true through goodwill, determination and perhaps a touch of magic. The book also accepts that mistakes are part of success: as one character explains, their teacher believes unsuccessful experiments can be more valuable because they teach us more.

The book presents its message in the most playful way possible.

Another important idea is that things we consider ordinary are almost miraculous in CROOT’s universe. The changing seasons on Earth are one example. Roborumb has no spring or autumn, so to CROOT the transition between seasons feels like magic.

The author allows us to experience it as a discovery and a wonder. What could be more magical than that?

Readers also encounter an increasingly detailed world. Small but meaningful facts expand our knowledge of Roborumb, which begins to feel like an ideal system containing both what exists in our world and what perhaps ought to exist. The result is a boundless, inexhaustible universe of imagination.

Violetta Andrianova’s magnificent, colourful and energetic illustrations deserve special praise as well.

https://rewizor.ru/literature/spetsproekty/knijnaya-lavka-revizora-ru/stati/kosmos-fantazii-ili-novye-priklucheniya-robota-kruuta/