Ricky Ricotta Y El Poderoso Robot

Ricky Ricotta #1

by Dav Pilkey, Martin Ontiveros (Illustrator)

Dav Pilkey creates an exciting new chapter-book series for early readers. Illustrated by talented cartoonist Martin Ontiveros --who was hand-picked by Dav Pilkey for this series!

Ricky Ricotta es un ratón solitario. No tiene hermanos con quien jugar. Los abusones de la escuela suelen meterse con él. Ricky quiere que su vida cambie, que mejore, quiere que algo GRANDE ocurra. Mientras tanto, un ratón científico malvado planea apoderarse de Ciudad Chillona. Ha construido un robot enorme y ¡le ha ordenado que destruya la ciudad! Pero para su sorpresa, el robot se niega a hacerlo y, con la ayuda de Ricky Ricotta, ¡se libera de su amo! A partir de ahora, nadie podrá ser un abusón con Ricky Ricotta porque él y su robot le darán una buena lección.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Chapter Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Humor

112 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

David "Dav" Pilkey (b. March 4, 1966), is a popular children's author and artist. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, Sayuri.

Reviews

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricky is a small mouse and he loves going to school but he doesn't like walking to school as gets bullied by bigger mouse. When a mad doctor, Dr. Stinky McNasty builds a robot as his evil plan to destroy Squeakyville, it doesn't go down as the mad doctor wanted and Ricky ends up saving the mighty robot and then the mighty robot ends up helping Ricky and his family.

This wasn't bad but it lacked Pilkey's usual sense of humor. Still a good read with good illustrations.

3 stars

[SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating = 2 stars.

My boys' rating = 5 stars, yeah!!!

Therefore, a composite rating of 3.5 stars.

I honestly thought this was kinda dumb, but it went over very well with my three year old. He's in that developmental place between picture books and chapter books, so I've been on the lookout for selections that will help bridge the gap for him. This series came up in a recent search. I thought I would give it a try.

I would like to believe that there are some simple, yet beautifully written chapter books out there for little guys that might be a bit more satisfying for the adult reading aloud. This pulled off "simple" but not "beautiful." I welcome any suggestions from the GR community.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Ricky Ricotta series by Dav Pilkey. I thought it was interesting that he did not illustrate these books himself, although the format of the tale is very similar to his Captain Underpants books, without the silliness and toilet humor.

I get the impression that this series was meant to appeal to younger readers, be more commercially acceptable, and avoid the Banned book lists. And thus, it lacks a lot of the charm of the Tra-la-la tales.

Still, it's an entertaining and quick read and we love reading his stories. We all took turns reading this book and I think it would be a great book to get younger and/or reluctant readers excited about reading. I am sure that we'll read more of the books in this series soon.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book for young action/adventure aficionados! The story was exciting, action-packed, and most importantly for some parents, age appropriate for kindergarten to second or third grade aged kids. There is a message in this book, but it doesn't beat the reader over the head, and I didn't think it was overly syrupy, either.

There were some mild fisticuffs, which I didn't think were misplaced or over-the-top, but I do think this was a slightly discordant note in the book because the story did rather call bullies out, and yet, there was mild fighting. Whatever. I certainly don't want to suggest that this book should've been more Pollyanna-ish.

My fourth grade niece thought the book was ok, but it was too young for her. She did enjoy listening to my character voices, and she enjoyed doing the animated pages for her brother. My kindergarten aged nephew thought this book was, "very awesome," and he was quite engaged by the story. I heard lots of exclamations of delight and appreciation out of him, and I believe we'll be reading the next Ricky Ricotta book.

[Regan]

Could have started this series even earlier with Nolan; as soon as kids are enjoying/following longer children’s books, they could easily make the jump to these. Engaging animations, easy storylines; less snark/wit than the Captain Underpants books (which honestly have some quality jokes and lit devices- I’m looking forward to Nolan reading those on his own when he’s older).

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys really enjoyed this book. Same feel as Captain Underpants, but at an easy level to comprehend for my littlest. Will definitely continue on through the series!

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was assigned to my twins for their rising third grade Summer reading list. We read it tonight before bedtime and they seemed to enjoy it. A little wonky and wacky story.

[Emily Traasdahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Ricky Ricotta, who lived in Squeakyville with his parents, but was lonely. When Ricky saves a robot from an evil scientist named Dr. Stinky, he and the robot become friends.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! This is a good beginning chapter reader, especially for a boy. The graphic novel aspect of it would be enjoyed as well. It made me smile.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, compelling story with good morals about being quality friends. My boys immediately requested the remaining volumes of the series and I will be happy to find them for them.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Ds read aloud to me as his reader.

I used to be a snob about Dav Pilkey's books but I've gotten over that :-) My son loves anything by him. He used to take this series out of the library and *look* at it and now he can finally read it. And he read it very well, indeed. This is exactly his reading level. He needed help with about one word per every other page. The story is silly and fun but not babyish, making it very good for struggling older elementary kids. The Flip-o-rama pages work towards his autism. He could sit there all day flipping those pages and he reads on excitedly towards the next Flip section. This book was clean, no toilet jokes, or anything of that nature, cute, fun and exciting with robot vs giant lizard action. Ds had a blast and he'll be reading more while his interest holds for these.

Mar 2014: 've already read and reviewed this book here, when my son read it to me as his reader but a few words from my point of view. This is a much simpler read than the Captain Underwear series. Many pages only have one or two sentences of text and the reading level is lower. The story is cuter and at least, so far the humour is not of the toilet variety. The plot however is not simple; there are several instances of rising action before the final climax making for a captivating read. Including the familiar "Flip-o-rama" pages the story relates how Ricky is bullied until he sees the evil Dr. Stinky being mean to a robot. He intercedes and ends up with the robot himself. Then there is the fiasco at home as they try to keep the robot as a pet and finally the return of Dr.Stinky with an evil monster to try and get the robot back. Very fun easy-reader chapter book.

[Libby Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot is one of the best easy readers I have encountered. It is a perfect transition to chapter books with large illustrations and never too many words on a page. However, it is formatted like a thick chapter book making early readers feel very successful as they whiz through the chapters. The story includes evil villains, mighty robots, but also shares valuable lessons about standing up to bullies. With simple writing, the level is good for young readers, but includes subtle humor for adults listening as their children read aloud.

Other features in the Ricky Ricotta series are the ‘flip-o-rama’ breaks. Following every fourth or fifth chapter there is a section with large illustrations and one sentence captions that can be flipped in animation style action. The end of each book also includes a ‘how to draw’ section giving simple instructions for how to draw one or two characters from the story. My seven-year-old devoured two of these books in one afternoon and luckily there are at least seven more to try.

[Michael Koreis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a mouse named Ricky Ricotta and his best friend who is a robot originally designed to destroy their city. In this particular book, from the Mighty Robot series, Ricky is being bullied on the way to school, as well as at school. The robot ends up protecting Ricky and forever making the bullies leave him alone. The robot is also bullied by the evil scientist, Dr. Stinky, that created him and Ricky protects the robot from him. They lived happily ever after, until the next book that is. Pilkey also put an interactive section in the book, kids can flip certain pages back and forth quickly and it makes it look like the images are moving. The main lesson in this story is that bullying is not ok and it can be harmful. It also teaches that people need to stick up for the people being bullied and not let it continue.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book when I first read it years ago, but with the new illustrations it has catapulted the title and I think it will be reinvigorated with new audiences. Ricky adopts a new pet, a robot the size of a four story building. This mighty robot is also a super hero. Boys will gravitate to this series even more than they already do. Plus I think the new illustrations help to put some separation between this series and the Captain Underpants series, which is a good thing. I know parents that do not let their kids read Underpants because of the bathroom humor and with the old version of Ricky, it was hard to live under the Underpants stereotype, but this will allow the series to stand out on its own merit.

Overall, great job.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my son, who just graduated kindergarten, got to the end of a chapter and I said, "Do you want to stop for the night or keep reading?" he shouted, "keep reading!" He was introduced to some great new vocab words yet I felt the author really tried hard to keep the reading level down for more of a beginning reader. We both loved the "flip-o-rama" sections of illustration where my son could also add in some fun sound effects. He loved being able to read on his own something with both adventure and humor, and it was nice to see him enjoy reading so much.

[Ngaio · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a certain age of reader that will love this book (and the accompanying series). It’s action-packed and has funny parts. It has an element of wish-fulfillment (e.g. defeating bullies, becoming a hero etc.).

It’s a little heavy-handed though and that will probably turn off older readers. For its target audience I think it’s probably a good book. It won’t suit everyone though.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with broad action packed illustrations about Ricky's unconventional friendship with the Mighty Robot. Also a fun flip-o-rama to "animate the action" Highly recommended for beginning readers Gr. K-2 who like robots and adventure/ are looking for a new series.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard fare and it really lacks Pilkey's usual cleverness that I expect based on Captain Underpants and Dogman. Santat's illustrations go from picture book to comics for the action scenes which I liked and makes it a good option for younger readers.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute narrative; not very funny, though. Be aware that it is not intended to be as comedy-centric as "Cpt. Underpants".

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bathroom humor, mutant alien battles and animated fight scenes...Pilkey is genius at knowing what appeals to 5-7 year old boys

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had previously read Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. The Naughty Nightcrawlers From Neptune (book 8 of the series) completely at random, so this time when I happened to find book 1, I thought it would be a good time to see how it started.

Apparently, it started with a villain who was COMPLETELY in control, yet somehow managed to build a pacifist* robot. Because that happens, I guess!

The rest of the story is about what you might expect from a young reader book about a boy and his HUGE robot friend, especially what you might expect from a Dav Pilkey book about a boy and his HUGE robot friend! It has the Pilkey trademark** Flip-O-Rama sections for Do-It-Yourself two-frame animation, and... I guess this is a reprint edition, because it lists EIGHT of the Ricky Ricotta books in the back (which seems abnormally prescient or planned WAY ahead for a first edition), besides the "all-new mini comics inside!" advertised on the back (which I have to assume are the pages that have been redrawn(?) in graphic novel format).

Definitely cute, though it still pains me whenever a mouse character is named after cheese since mice don't actually like cheese (and it might actually be BAD for them).

*I mean, the robot will break things, certainly, but hurt innocent lives? Unthinkable!

**probably not ACTUALLY trademarked, but you know what I mean

[Munchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason I liked Ricky and the Mighty Robot was mostly due to the novel being a picture book. Some stories add drawings to help the young reader along with the world that the author built. Instead, I feel like the story was made for the pictures. They are spectacular! And little did I know they were illustrated by a Disney creator of The Replacements (TV series). They're the most satisfying thing to look at. Because the book is from top to bottom covered with drawings in color, I feel for kids moving away from traditional picture books, this would really interest kids learning to read. Sometimes small kids can't focus on words alone, so an action packed adventure involving a mouse town, mouse villain and mouse action, was really cool. And of course it's from Pilkey who made Capt underpants. But I didn't notice that till after I finished reading the book. I grabbed this because the cover looked interesting and I'm binge reading early chapter books because I was robbed of my childhood.

However this is truly for very young readers. I don't find anyone older than 2nd grade level to want to read this unless they're into comic books. Then I feel this might be appropriate for them. It was a very short read for me, so it won't overwhelm kids either. I gave it high remarks based on what I saw from the first book. It's a solid start and I would like to see the world progress with more action scenes. A giant robot fighting a monster trope is in this book. And I don't mind that. I personally love them. So I'm curious to see what might come next for Ricky and Mighty. Ricky isn't very developed but I feel like I prefer the character Mighty, probably everyone does cause he's unique. Ricky is a kid, goes to school and gets bullied. Whereas Mighty is made by a mad scientist.

I recommend seeing if your child would be interested in this series. Just know that it has fight scenes that are mild.

[Adelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not all early chapter readers are created equal, and this book avoids many of the drawbacks that drag down so many of them.
This would be an excellent middle step book for kids who aren't quite ready for real chapter books but who need a challenge beyond 20-page "step 3 readers" and predictable-word books (eg Seuss).

This is a story about a mouse who gains a robot friend and protector from bullies. The very straightforward and simple text shouldn't be triggering even for kids who have been bullied, and it doesn't have any problematic attitude promotion (eg, the bullies don't get bullied in return, and nobody hurts the bad guy; his rocket misfires and destroys his evil lab). Ricky's parents make a supportive suburban family.

This early chapter book has one to three sentences per page, ~100 pages. Some pages are given comic book style or as a flip book. It uses simple sentence structure and age appropriate vocabulary for new readers.
There are a handful of moderately complex words, ones that a learning reader would know but which might need work/help to sound out, such as:

-recess
-knocked
-climbed
-brought
-innocent
-disappeared
-frightened
-potion
-defeated

It doesn't have jargon, strange vocab, or words that are unfamiliar-AND-complex.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son is very much into Captain Underpants and Dogman and during a book fair I found an old beat up copy of this and a number of other Dav Pilkey books. It's brief and fun and has flip-o-rama.

The reason this gets 5 stars from me? While reading to him I asked him to read some with me. He's developing his reading, reads his school learner books fine but they don't excite him. He likes me reading to him (I do the voices) and I don't think he realised he could read 'a proper book' until I asked him to try.

He read a page, then another, the finished the book. He then read it to me every night for the next 2 weeks. The sheer joy and pride visible in himself at reading a 'real book' and his enthusiasm and excitement for it hit me hard. He's exploring other books now. He's even trying to 'do the voices' which is hilarious and cracks us both up. Reading is awesome and seeing kids discover that themselves is a privilege to witness.

So yeah, 5 stars.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricky Ricotta is a small mouse. He get's picked on by bullies, and he hasn't made any friends at school. Concurrently, an evil scientist decides to attack Squeakyville with a giant robot, but things don't quite go to his plan.

A fun boy-acquires-giant-robot-and-they-become-best-friends, action story with light humor and non-deadly violence. Honestly nothing wrong with this story, also nothing "laugh out loud" funny and The Iron Giant does it better, but if you know a grade schooler that loves that movie, this would be a perfect read for them.

No content issues, all fights end up with only bruises.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricky is an only child who just wants a friend. Every day he gets bullied on his way to school and has no one to sit with at lunch. His dad says to not worry because something BIG will happen one day. Dr. Stinky creates a Mighty Robot to destroy all of Squeakyville, but the robot doesn't want to hurt anyone. He becomes friends with Ricky. When Dr. Stinky comes back with Ricky's classroom's pet lizard made giant and mean with Hate Potion #9. Can Ricky and the Might Robot save Squeakyville? A great robot/science fiction book for first chapter book readers. Probably my favorite Pilkey book by far. I really like the updated illustrations by Santat too. For fans of Press Start and The Bad Guys.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss 3 loves Captain Underpants so I thought I'd try some of Dave Pilkey's other works. Ricky is probably a lot nicer than George and Harold; he's used to being bullied horribly but when he gets his own superhero robot he's more focussed on doing nice things than playing tricks. Some more Flip-o-rama action!

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricky Ricotta is small, even for a mouse. He has no friends apart from his parents. Every day he wishes for a companion to play with and protect him from the bullies who knock him down and throw his backpack in the garbage. He gets all that and more when an evil scientist creates a giant robot who defies his orders to destroy the city and befriends Ricky instead. A quick, cute read with plentiful illustrations depicting all the rip-roaring action. Half easy chapter book, half graphic novel, a combination that may appeal to reluctant readers.

[LukasmummyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one caught my eye when I was looking for something to do with my son while my daughter was at Rainbows. This son is an incredibly relunctant reader but the idea of a giant mouse robot was intriguing to him. Simple and enjoyable to read with very short well defined chapters and some very interesting artwork. Fingers crossed we might have actually found a book series that my son might read without complaint.