The latest entry in David Milgrim’s send-up of “Dick and Jane” features the robot Otto attempting to swing in the trees like his monkey friends Flip and Flop. Otto’s trepidation is great, but his determination is mighty despite repeated failures. When success seems impossible, Otto uses a little ingenuity and elbow grease to get in the swing of things in his own way. Children will not find Milgrim’s allusion to the past in the text funny in and of itself (“See Otto swing. Swing, Otto, swing.”). But they will appreciate the humor and warmth of the story, in which the spare text is juxtaposed with digitally rendered pen-and-ink drawings. Milgrim conveys a range of emotions with just a few expressive lines in the art, making this beginning reader useful in an introduction to visual literacy as well. (Ages 4–7)

When Otto has trouble learning to swing on vines like his monkey friends, he decides to make his own swing set instead.