1. What do you think is the best thing about B-bots? What would you like to do with a B-bot the most?
   Caregiver Note: This isn’t meant to be a deep question. All you are doing here is asking some questions to start conversation and to help you to get to know your child better.
2. Why do you think Rich and his two friends bully Barney? Have you ever seen bullying happen at your school? What does it look like?
   Caregiver Note: Bullying is a theme in this movie. Children may often experience bullying at school, and for children from traumatic pasts, they might not be able to recognize bullying to know that they are on the receiving end of it. Taking time to identify what bullying looks like and the motivation behind it is useful for your child to learn what it looks like but this will also open up an atmosphere to allow your child to talk about what they have experienced in real life.
3. How is Savannah’s friendship with her B-bot different from Barney and Ron’s friendship?
   Caregiver Note: As we discussed in the comprehensive review, children who long for friendships are sometimes caught up in the hype of seeking attention on social media instead of actually building friendships. Since children from traumatic backgrounds have often not had healthy friendships modeled for them, this question will help your family begin to take a look at the aspects of a healthy and unhealthy friendship.
4. How is Savannah getting cyber bullied different from Barney getting bullied? How are they the same? What are the consequences of each type of bullying?
   Caregiver Note: As technology grows, cyberbullying is going to become more and more a relevant issue which parents need to address in their family. These questions will help you broach the subject for a family discussion to see how your family determines the differences and similarities of each type of bullying. It is important for caregivers to not only look at the qualities of each type so that kids understand them better but also so that kids better understand the ramifications of bullying.
5. Barney’s dad bought him a B-bot from the man delivering the bots. It wasn’t the delivery driver’s bot to sell but the B-bot made Barney happy. Did Barney’s dad do the right thing or the wrong thing?
   Caregiver Note: This question is simply a moral dilemma question. Your family may or may not come to a conclusion. However, the question will allow your family to open up time to discuss their beliefs on what is right and wrong as well as affirm family beliefs on morality.
6. Barney’s grandma thought that Barney didn’t share everything with his dad because he was protecting his dad. Why do you think he was protecting his dad? From what? What were the consequences for hiding stuff from his dad? 
   Caregiver Note: Our kids many times might feel that they must handle complex situations on their own because they may not trust adults or feel that adults have everything under control. These questions are great for introducing the fact that the “job description” of a safe and caring adult is to help the children in our care instead of the children in our care being responsible to protect us. These questions are also great for caregivers to point out the fact that while Barney’s dad was struggling with feelings of inadequacy that the family still had a home, food, and clothes to wear – all the basic necessities – and they seemed to be generally happy. In essence while Barney’s dad might have been struggling emotionally, he was still a safe adult who was assuring Barney had his needs met.
7. What are some of the things that Barney thought someone needed to know about him to become a good friend? 
   Caregiver Note: Children from traumatic backgrounds who have trouble making friends, may find that they are unsure of what to even talk about with other people. This question is useful for families to be able to highlight things which are good to discuss with another person in order to build a friendship. It could also be good to note how Barney and Ron discussed surface type topics at the beginning of their friendship and as they grew the relationship they began to share fears and deeper issues like Barney being scared of the dark after his mom passed away.
8. Why was Barney and Ron running away from home a bad idea?
   Caregiver Note: This is a good time to discuss how running away from home led to dangerous consequences for Ron and Barney. It might be worth talking about how things might have turned out differently if Barney’s dad and grandma were allowed to help solve the situation. Many times movies show running away as a solution for solving a big kid problem. It is important with this question to assure that kids understand that while the situation made for a good cartoon that it should never be a real life solution.
9. How do you think it felt for Barney to lose Ron? Why did he decide to let him go? What do you think it feels like to lose a friend?
   Caregiver Note: Children from foster care and adoption backgrounds have suffered the loss of someone in their lives. These questions are meant to gently give your child the space to discuss these feelings if they wish. If they keep the conversation purely on the characters, that’s okay. They will most likely bring their own personal feelings and thoughts into the conversation and place them on the characters here and there. It should go without saying but it is imperative that caregivers be in tune with how their child is processing and feeling about the losses they have suffered in life.
10. Barney seemed to be happy at the end of the movie. How do you think he was able to process the loss of Ron and become happy again?
    Caregiver Note: In the previous question we explored the feelings of loss and possibly learned a bit about where your child sees themselves with these emotions. We don’t want to stay stuck in these feelings but sometimes it can be difficult to get ourselves out. This question will allow your family to identify possible ways that Barney used to move forward and open up conversation to other alternatives to helping in this situation. You may find that the discussion shows that your child will benefit from a professional therapist to help them get unstuck and better process their grief.
11. How did Barney’s idea of a good friend change over the course of the movie? What do you think makes a good friendship?
    Caregiver Note: In the above review it was discussed that oftentimes children want friendship but instead seek attention OR they focus only on their own needs. These questions are significant for a family to discuss together to see how Barney’s ideas changed. At one point Barney in the movie Barney tells Ron that he must like everything he, himself, likes. However, later in the movie Barney discovers that he must learn about Ron’s likes and that they both don’t have to like the same things. These questions are also great starting points for caregivers to begin conversations about what it looks like to give into a relationship instead of taking from it all the time.

About the Author: Darren Fink

Co-founder and President of Transfiguring Adoption. Darren is a graduate of Illinois State University where he studied fine art. He offers foster and adoptive parents over a decade of experience in parenting foster and adoptive children, as well as his introductory to counseling training. Darren is the author of the “A Guide to Magical Creatures Around Your Home,” book series.

**Transfiguring Adoption is a nonprofit organization seeking to nurture growth in foster and adoptive families by giving a HOOT about their families. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its review to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.