The Fabulous Friend Machine

Popcorn the chicken is the most friendly, kind, and helpful animal at Fiddlesticks Farm. She greets everyone with kind words, is wonderful company socially, and is an excellent storyteller – all of which leads her to winning the all-consensus medal for being the friendliest chicken. However, everything changes when Popcorn finds a smartphone on a haystack. She’s never seen a digital device before, and when the word “Hello” popped up on the screen, Popcorn starts to message back in her friendly nature. As messages go back and forth, Popcorn starts to see this smartphone as a “friend machine”, and her new friendship begins to preoccupy her time day and night – at the expense of her old friendships with the other barn animals.

One day, Popcorn invites her new friends to a party, with delicious cake she made. With a terrible turn of events, it turns out that her new friends are wolves! Luckily, Popcorn’s old friends come to her rescue and scare the predators away. A valuable lesson is learned which Popcorn turns into a cautionary tale to be told at the barn forevermore.

The author, Nick Bland, who is the illustrator as well, uses colourful backdrops, varied typography, and fun description to evoke an engaging storytelling experience.

The Fabulous Friend Machine introduces children to the concept of cyber safety and the importance of their protecting themselves in the digital context. With the prevalence of digital devices and the ease by which digital spaces can be accessed by young users, this book provides an excellent discussion-starter about the potential dangers of the online realm. It also contains the message that sometimes the most valuable things are found in the tangible, physical world.
While The Fabulous Friend Machine is an excellent introduction to the dangers of cyberspace, the book portrays the digital user as innocent and without the ability of critical thinking, and the digital device as dangerous. Adult readers need to guide young readers to think critically about the role of users and devices in real life.