RICKY RICOTTA’S GIANT ROBOT VS. THE VOODOO VULTURES FROM VENUS

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)