From the author of “Captain Underpants” comes another series with just as much fun and zany action but a lot less underwear – Ricky Ricotta! With a name that’s a double pun (Ricotta’s a kind of cheese, and he’s a mouse, plus don’t forget Desi Arnaz’s character in “I Love Lucy” – he played Ricky Richardo) this little mouse is destined to be our next hero, along with his giant robot friend.
It all begins in a mouse town called Squeakyville. Ricky lives there with his mother and father, and while he’s content, he wishes he had a real friend. There are some bullies at school who enjoy picking on him and he doesn’t know what to do.
Meanwhile, in a secret cave up above the city, Dr. Stinky McNasty has created a giant robot for the purposes of destroying the city and someday ruling the world. (That’s usually the aim of persons who live in secret caves and invent things.) But after creating his robot and taking it for a test destroy, Dr. McNasty learns that his creation has a fatal flaw: it’s too nice. It will stomp around, as created, but it won’t crush things. Rats. (No pun intended.)
As Dr. McNasty tries, unsuccessfully, to order the robot to menace a group of school children, of which Ricky was one, the robot suddenly leans down and pats Ricky on the head. Ricky has finally found his friend. It was a little bit of a trick to convince his mother and father to let him keep it, but they soon realized that a giant robot could be a handy thing to have around the house.
Well, as we could have expected, Dr. McNasty comes back for another go-round and the robot fights on Ricky’s side, winning the whole she-bang. The fight scenes take place in Flip-o-rama. In case you’re not familiar with the high technology of Flip-o-rama, I shall explain. You hold the book open on a flat surface with one hand while you flip the designated page with the other. The drawings appear to come to life, and you provide the sound effects. It’s quite thrilling, really.
So if you’re looking for a book for your 7 – to – 11-year-old boy to read, pick up Ricky Ricotta. My son loves it, and I trust his judgment in the little boy department.
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