Small Wonder

Small Wonder may refer to:

Small Wonder (TV series)

Small Wonder is an American comedy science fiction sitcom that aired in first-run syndication from September 7, 1985 to May 20, 1989. The show chronicles the family of a robotics engineer who secretly creates a robot modeled after a human girl, then tries to pass it off as their adopted daughter.

Premise

The story lines revolve around V.I.C.I. (an acronym for Voice Input Child Identicant, pronounced "Vicky"), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl. V.I.C.I. was built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. The robot is taken home by Lawson so that it can mature within a family environment. V.I.C.I.'s features include superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a serial port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family initially tries to pass V.I.C.I. off as an orphaned family member whom they eventually legally adopt as their daughter.

Small Wonder (essays)

Small Wonder is a collection of 23 essays on environmentalism and social justice by American novelist and biologist Barbara Kingsolver, published in 2002 by Harper Collins. It reached number 3 in the New York Times non-fiction paperback best seller list in May 2003. The cover shows two scarlet macaws, the subject of one of the essays, in flight against a tropical forest.

Context

Kingsolver wrote the book in response to the 9/11 attacks, with the theme of 'reclaiming' patriotism for Americans who did not agree with the current direction of the country. The essay "And Our Flag Was Still There" was first published in the Los Angeles Times and her views such as "In my lifetime I have seen the flag waved over the sound of sabre-rattling too many times for my comfort" received an angry response from many US commentators. Some of the essays were co-written with Kingsolver's husband Steven Hopp, an ornithologist.

Reception

Rosemary Canfield-Reisman noted that the book was not as well-received as her other work and that it was "labeled unpatriotic by some reviewers and naive by others."