New Children’s Book Sends a Boy and His Robot Cat Into a Broken-Down Clockwork World

Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk

Travis Anderson has published his debut book, "Rodger Ridiculous and the Clockwork Island," a children’s adventure built around a boy who believes instinct and creativity can get him through anything.

The story begins with an ordinary malfunction: Rodger’s RC car breaks down, and a strange ticking sound pulls him into the Clockwork Island, a world of gears, brass fittings and machinery that is slowly sinking and badly in need of repair. According to the announcement, the island becomes both a puzzle for Rodger to solve and, in effect, a classroom.

He doesn’t do it alone. Rodger is paired with a robot cat described as exacting and insistent on maps, order and instruction, a foil to the boy’s instinct to wing it. The publisher’s description frames the book around that friction: a boy who leads with spontaneity, a companion who leads with planning, and a story that argues the two aren’t really in conflict. "Being bold and being responsible aren’t opposing forces," Anderson said in the announcement, "they’re partners in any truly memorable adventure."

Anderson lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife and three children. The announcement describes him as a longtime writer of stories and poetry for his family, with this book marking his first published work. The book is published through Christian Faith Publishing and is listed for sale at bookstores and through Apple Books, Amazon, Google Play and Barnes & Noble.

Children’s books that pair a free-spirited protagonist with a more rule-bound sidekick are a familiar shape in the genre, but the clockwork setting gives this one a distinct visual hook. Studio CarryOnHarry will be curious whether Anderson builds out Rodger’s world in future volumes, or whether this is a standalone story.

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