How to Solve the Mystery of Crying, written by Charly Froh and illustrated by Zuzana Svobodova, is a children's picture book and part of the duo's Novo the Space Robot series. Each book centers around the titular space robot named Novo, who has a close emotional connection to Earth even though he is an actual alien bot living on the planet Infinita. Novo is a happy bot whose emotions crash when he returns home from a fun day to find his beloved venus-bot flowers have been destroyed by a storm. Novo experiences a strange happening as a result, where water begins to come out from his eyes. This is not good news for a bot that is susceptible to rust and Novo takes another trip to Earth to see what human children know about the phenomenon.

How to Solve the Mystery of Crying is another adorable book written and illustrated by Charly Froh and Zuzana Svobodova. Novo is such a lovable character and is notably well-developed for being in a children's picture book, one of the advantages of a series. It's funny to read about all of the crazy things he tried to stop the tears from coming, including blow-drying his face, something every teenage girl on Earth and beyond can probably relate to. The story itself is fun and the illustrations are first-rate. Froh and Svobodova make a great team in the kid-lit genre and the combination of storytelling, its message, and the way everything comes together in colorful artwork is sure to please young readers and their adult humans alike.

Did you know that tears plus talking equals feeling better? You see, there’s no shame in crying. There are many reasons why someone might cry: tears of laughter, tears of sadness, tears of joy, or tears of anger. In Novo the Space Robot: How to Solve the Mystery of Crying by Charly Froh, readers discover that Novo, who lived on the planet Infinita, didn’t know about tears and crying. One day, a super space storm destroyed his special purple garden. It made him sad and he started to weep. He didn’t understand crying and he thought of it as liquid dripping from his eyes that could cause him to rust. He had to stop this flow of water quickly, but no one on Infinita could assist him.

Charly Froh’s picture book, Novo the Space Robot, is another in the series. In this story, Novo learns about crying. He learns that crying can be a good thing and is not something to fear or be ashamed of. Told in the first person narrative from Novo’s point of view, the story follows Novo as he proceeds with his activities on market day, followed by the tragedy resulting from the horrific storm. When the tears start to flow, Novo turned to his friends for help and understanding. That’s what friends are for. This is a great story about friendship and caring, and it’ll help young readers understand what causes us to cry and how we can problem-solve and work through the tears. A sweet and endearing story.