Who wouldn't want to read to a face like that? (Credit: Michaelis and Mutlu, Sci. Back in the day, if parents wanted to encourage their kids to read without, you know, actually reading with them, educational TV programs like Reading Rainbow were the way to go. Now, robots might do the trick, according to a new paper in Science Robotics. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied the effects that a robot reading companion had on a group of 24 kids ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old. The team programmed the bot, which they named Minnie, to make thoughtful comments on whichever book the kids picked.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have built a robot, named Minnie, to serve as a reading buddy to middle school kids, and Minnie's new friends grew more excited about books and more attached to the robot over two weeks of reading together. "After one interaction, the kids were generally telling us that, sure, it was nice to have someone to read with," says Joseph Michaelis, a UW-Madison graduate student studying educational psychology. "But by the end of two weeks, they're talking about how the robot was funny and silly and afraid, and how they'd come home looking forward to seeing it again." Michaelis and computer sciences professor Bilge Mutlu published their work with Minnie on Wednesday (Aug. Research shows that social learning -- pairing up with a peer to complete math problems or read a chapter in a textbook -- is a powerful way to help students develop skills and interests, according to Michaelis.