Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Video Vultures from Venus (Revised) (Ricky Ricotta Series #3)

by Dav Pilkey, Dan Santat (Illustrator)

Overview

From Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants, and acclaimed artist Dan Santat, an out-of-this-world friendship adventure with all-new full-color illustrations!

Ricky Ricotta and his Mighty Robot are best buddies — but with big friends come big responsibilities...Ricky and his Mighty Robot are late for dinner again, and Ricky's parents are not too happy. They think Ricky and his Robot need to learn a lesson, so that night they send the boys to bed without TV.Luckily for Ricky and his Robot, their punishment saves them from falling under the spell of Victor Von Vulture, a villain from the planet Venus. Victor has invaded Earth with his Video Vultures, with plans to steal all the food in Squeakyville. Now only Ricky and his Robot can send the bad guys soaring back into space!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545630115
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/29/2014
Series:	Ricky Ricotta Series , #3
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	51,936
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dan Santat is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, which won the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal in 2015. He is also the creator of the acclaimed graphic novel The Aquanaut, and his graphic memoir, A First Time for Everything, was the 2023 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature. His art is featured in numerous children's books, including Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series as well as picture books by Henry Winkler and Jake Gyllenhaal. Dan lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and pets. Visit him online at dansantatbooks.com.

When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hallway every day. Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books — the very first adventures of Dog Man and Captain Underpants. In the second grade, Dav's teacher ripped up his comics and told him he couldn't spend the rest of his life making silly books. Fortunately, Dav was not a very good listener.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Ricky Ricotta series:"This reboot... offer[s] a new generation of readers a fun introduction to chapter books... Newly independent readers and Pilkey fans alike will not be disappointed by the humorous ride." — School Library Journal"Aimed at a younger audience than the wildly popular Captain Underpants books, this series... has all the classic Pilkey hallmarks: comic book panels, superhero action, and flip-o-rama." — Booklist

From the Publisher

Gr 2-4-Another exciting adventure with the humble rodent and his huge mechanical pal. Fans of the series know just what to expect from this duo and are sure to enjoy their latest brush with danger. The villains here, the Voodoo Vultures from Venus, are appropriately greedy and evil. Their nefarious plans smack of B-grade sci-fi movies (they use a special voodoo ray to hypnotize everyone on Earth via their television sets), and once again the day is saved with humor and heroism. The fast-paced plot, funny details, and over-the-top dialogue will keep readers rolling along through the short chapters with large-type text. As in the earlier titles, black-and-white illustrations appear on every page, the ultimate battle features the now-famous "Flip-O-Rama" technique, and simple drawing lessons are included at the end. Luckily for young readers, there are still six other planets from which enemies may appear-and will, according to Pilkey's preview of upcoming titles. In the meantime, though, Pilkey fans, science-fiction aficionados, and reluctant readers won't want to miss this latest installment.-Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

It's easy to see how Pilkey's high-action, easy-reading chapter novel with a comic-book feel would appeal to younger readers. The black-and-white stylish pictures by Ontiveros are way cool and the text is insouciant and funny. This is the third book that pairs the tiny bespectacled mouse, Ricky, with his super-strong, giant robot buddy, a sharp-jawed fellow who looks like an out-of-shape wrestler with rodent ears. Because Ricky is being punished for acting irresponsibly—he and his robot have come home late for dinner again—they are the only ones on the Planet Earth who miss the television show Rocky Rodent. And it's a good thing too, because that very night a group of Voodoo Vultures from the Planet Venus, tired of eating the melted mess that passes for food on their super hot planet, beam down rays through the television, hypnotizing Earth's entire population, except for Ricky, into obeying their wishes. When they arrive on Earth, the ravenous vultures order the hypnotized mice to bring them good Earth cooking, in a funny throwaway touch demanding"more chocolate chip cookies" but"no more rice cakes," until Ricky is able to figure out how to save the day. Parents will be happy to know this tale does have a moral,"responsibility ... is doing the right thing at the right time," though giggling fans may miss it. Also containing a rather lame flip-o-rama and instructions on how to draw the characters, this book is silly good fun. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews