Title: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
Author: Dav Pilkey
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Format: Book series (9 books)
Age group: 5+
Poor Squeakyville! This town and its mousey inhabitants seem perpetually on the hit-list of some mad scientist or colony-craving alien. Luckily for Squeakyville, one of its littlest residents – boy-mouse Ricky Ricotta – has teamed up with his best buddy, The Mighty Robot, to hold chaos at bay.
From facing down school bullies, to combatting all manner of mutants from around the planetary system, Ricky and his Robot embark on 9, action-packed adventures. While author Dav Pilkey (of Captain Underpant’s fame) uses a highly repetitive formula in the books, they work for many reasons. Bite-sized quantities of text on each page are accompanied by fantastic, color-saturated illustrations by Dan Santat. The chapters also incorporate comicstrips and “flip-o-ramas,” further adding to the engagement factor.
If your child is a reluctant reader or looking for early chapter books with energetic content, give this series a try. Tip: Don’t stock up on the whole series all at once: Get 1 or 2 for starters and see if your child asks for more. I’ve noticed that seeing a whole stack of books to “work” through can sometimes be a major turn-off to a potentially engaged reader.
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