A Boy's Best Friend


"A Boy's Best Friend" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1975. It has been collected in The Complete Robot and first appeared in Boys' Life, March 1975.

Plot summary

This story is set far in the future when habitation of the Moon has already taken place. Jimmy Anderson is a Moon-born ten-year-old, and he owns a robotic dog named Robutt, whom he comes to love. He can go on the moon freely and securely as he is moon born and has Robutt with him. However, his parents want him to have a real dog, a Scottish Terrier. Since Moon-borns cannot visit Earth, his parents bring the dog to the Moon. Jimmy doesn't want to part away from Robutt. Since the relationship between Jimmy and Robutt is so close, Jimmy decides not to have the 'living' dog and keep the 'fake' dog Robutt instead. Although his parents protest, Jimmy ignores them and instead tightly hugs his robutt.

Similarities to other stories

Quoting Asimov himself, "you may find in it a distant echo of Robbie". That story, written 35 years before, also involves a relationship between a child and a robot.