Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. The Naughty Nightcrawlers From Neptune

Ricky Ricotta #8

by Dav Pilkey

An out-of-this-world friendship adventure by Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey, with full-color art and mini comics by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat. Ricky Ricotta and his Mighty Robot are in for a sticky, slimy surprise! Ricky and his Mighty Robot have built the coolest fort Squeakyville has ever seen, and they can't wait for the fun to begin! But then Cousin Lucy arrives with her pets and plans to turn it into a princess castle -- what a party pooper!Things completely fall apart when Nimrod Nightcrawler, a wicked worm from the planet Neptune, digs a tunnel under Ricky's fort, trapping the Mighty Robot. Now it's up to Ricky and Lucy to put a stop to this nightmare -- and save their friend!

Genres: Chapter Books, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Fiction, Science Fiction, Humor, Adventure

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2015

About the author

David "Dav" Pilkey (b. March 4, 1966), is a popular children's author and artist. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, Sayuri.

Reviews

[Spencer]

ricky have the nightmare of uncle unicron

[Angela Blount · Rating 4 out of 5]

A palatable early-reader chapter book, with large print overlaid on vibrant full-page artwork. We blew through it in one sitting (approx. 20 mins.) There are even faux-animated flip pages depicting the giant robot vs. giant alien nightcrawler scene, for added reader interaction.

Themes of friendship, problem-solving, courtesy, and cleaning up after oneself all permeate the plot. It's clear these books harken back to previous installments, but they needn't be read in order for kids to understand what's going on. It did, however, succeed in making my kids curious. SO I expect to see them checking out some of the earlier books soon...

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like, when I shop for books arbitrarily to try to get books covering a wider variety of authors and topics, half of them end up being by Dav Pilkey. Hmm.

The ongoing problem with mouse (and sometimes, rat) characters is they are regularly linked to cheese, when mice don't actually LIKE cheese (but will eat it as a last resort). Ricky Ricotta. Farmer Feta. Mayor Munster. *cringe* I sort of hate that the most I can do about this myth is to continue to mention it whenever relevant, even if it isn't really harmful as such (unless you happen to have pet mice, in which case PLEASE DO NOT FEED THEM CHEESE, which is so unnatural for their diet).

...ahem.

The story itself is okay. I haven't read the prior books to understand why Ricky in particular has a giant robot, but that's not really important. I can also extrapolate from the fact that this is book 8, and the enemy is from Neptune, that the prior books except one (probably the first one) involved enemies from each of the non-Earth planets in order (also, because Pilkey is probably older I am, including Pluto despite its downgrade for reasons of nostalgia).

The biggest lesson seems to be Farmer Feta learning that some "solutions" are worse than the problems they solve. Certainly I've spent more time fixing something than was worth doing, when it would have been better to do nothing. I also like that the mayor agreed to let Ricky have the materials from the condemned building in exchange for (neatly) dismantling the building for free for the city. Win/win! (even if some of said materials were probably unsafe and hence why the building needed to be demolished rather than renovated... oops)

Recommended for... fans of the prior books? I was okay reading this volume out of order, but I don't know how many others would do the same. (Pilkey fans, maybe?)

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miss 3 loves Captain Underpants and now we've worked our way through almost all of Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta books as well. They haven't captured her at the same level of sparkly LOVE as C. U. but she enjoys them enough to re-read them the following week. Although our library has these at the same reading level as C.U. they are much shorter and quicker to read. They're also more positive in general and a good entry for younger kids. As a parent, I love how the series works its way through the solar system and has little facts about each planet! Also, how the local jail slowly fills up with each arch-villain!

#2 Mercury : okay
#3 Venus : okay
#4 Mars : okay
#5 Jupiter: We liked Lucy getting added. Plus the shift to a non-fighting resolution and now super-small super-cute Jurassic Jackrabbits becoming pets.
#6 : Saturn: Featuring Lucy and the Jackrabbits too :)
#7: Uranus : Featuring Lucy and the Jackrabbits too :) I loved all the alliteration in this one!
#8: Neptune: okay
#9: Pluto: we liked Princess Lucy taking over the penguin castle!

[Haidyn.C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is okay because I learned a lesson to ask if it is okay before you do it because the robot and the kid made a fort on the top of the house and there parents were gone. So when the parents got back they said you half to clean this up because we have special people coming to visit. Who ever likes robots should read this but robots is just not my thing. It is similar to science fiction because the robot and all the building they have to do is part of science in some way. The night crawlers come to earth and they dig a big hole will they stay on earth forever or go back to Neptune.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 more book to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 6 yr old loves these books but wasn't pleased to find they changed the original artist. Otherwise, the story is the basically the same in each one (give or take) but it's entertaining enough and it makes him excited to read so I'm all for that.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not a fan of the Santat illustrations, they are well done but they don't suit the story as well. They make it seem more like a comic book and take some of the humour out of the stories. The story itself was pretty good, one of the stronger ones in the series.

[Daniel Peet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was good and i would recommend this book to people who like this series

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are not inspired to study worms and night crawlers.

[Katie Dicesare · Rating 3 out of 5]

A favorite series for students. Can't go wrong with Dav Pilkey and San Santat.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book my 6 year old son loved me reading to him.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

So that's how I get my parents to get a pool in the backyard!

[Jorden · Rating 3 out of 5]

not very good book its just the robot fighting a nightcrawler

[Dionne · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly cute

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricky Ricotta and his Mighty Robot duel with Nimrod Nightcrawler when he invades Earth through a portable black hole with plans to destroy both Ricky and his Mighty Robot.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished a few days ago, but I don’t remember the plot.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this 8th book, Ricky's robot saves planet earth from villainous nightcrawlers from the 8th planet from the sun. Ricky and his cousin Lucy help too, with a little lesson about teamwork.

[Arman Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Great Book Series from Dav Pilkey, Himself and Good Illustration from Dan Santat

[Jessica S · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are fun for reading aloud, since we can easily get through one in one sitting. My kids love the bright and the flip-o-rama.

[Shankar B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked when Ricky's robot defeated the nightcrawlers.

[Kate Puleo Unger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got to hear the first chapter of this book and the last few chapters. I missed all of the fun about the fort that Ricky builds, but I got to see the epic battle in flip-o-rama, a standard in every book. Christopher enjoyed this book immensely, like all the rest. As a parent, I love the full page color illustrations, the interactive flip pages, and the limited words that build confidence in early readers.

http://www.momsradius.com/2017/03/juv...

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I like Ricky Ricotta books. I did not like this book because I do not like worms.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2022 Review:
* Ricky's dad suggests he build a fort with his robot, he tells them to look for scrap materials.
* Ricky offers to tear down a building for the Mayor for free if he can keep the pieces, and builds a huge fort in his back garden. Ricky's mum and the next-door neighbour (Farmer Feta) are not happy.
* Nimron Nightcrawler of Neptune creates a wormhole to Farmer Feta's barn and digs down until Ricky's fort falls and traps his robot.
* Ricky, Lucy and the Jurassic Jackrabbits go through the wormhole, they are attacked by the Nightcrawlers, but get away by tickling them.
* Lucy steals a robo-worm suit, digs up the robot, and then the robot puts Nimron Nightcrawler in jail.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes from the Pilkey/Santat combo, but sadly this was a book that was only enjoyed by my 6 year old. Granted, it is the only one in this series I have read, but I can't imagine any of the others being very good. The positive? My son loved the full color graphic novel style and this will be a hit with reluctant/struggling readers. He'll probably want more of these books. Sigh.

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great series for those in need of early chapter books. Wonderful illustrations, and positive stories that are funny and full of action.

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[Nina V Ragone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooooooooooooooo awesome!!!

This book was great, I really wish that I had a giant tree house with a roller coaster and a pool in my garden. Like the idea of the giant night crawlers.

[Rebecca Frisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

We have been reading this series out loud at bedtime. I think these books would also be good for kids who are just starting chapter books. My son said we should give it 45 stars.

[Guen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with Eric.

[Kristi Mcduffie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I love this book because my son loves this book (and I want him to be excited about reading). Plus, it is a quasi-comic book that is not about superheros.