Rating: My bookshelf

Reading Level: Early Elementary

Many of Dav Pilkey’s books are not for me, but so far, Ricky Ricotta seems promising.

Possible Concerns:

  • Typical superhero story violence.
  • Typical superhero sci-fi. The villain is an overgrown vulture who lives on Venus.
  • The villain uses hypnotism to make all the residents of earth bring him their food.

Things I liked:

  • Ricky has a good relationship with his parents.
  • Obedience even when nobody is watching. When Ricky’s parents say no TV, Ricky refuses when his robot offers to play his built-in TV.
  • Ricky shows courage.
  • Ricky and his robot fight for justice.
  • This easy read is a hybrid between chapter book and graphic novel. It seems to be a great way to help reluctant readers keep reading.

Overall, this action-packed book is easy to read. I’m not a huge fan of hypnotism, but here it is portrayed in a negative light.