In this epic tale, Ricky Ricotta and his mighty Robot must save Squeakyville again. This time the enemy is Mr. Mosquito, who has grown weary of his home planet of Mercury and decides to take over the Earth. But will Ricky and his Mighty Robot be able to defeat the dreaded Mutant Mosquitoes? Read the book to find out!--With Flip-O-Rama action scenes, and a cool How-To Draw section.

This book was loosely based on William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, with Ricky playing the part of young Prince Henry, the Mighty Robot in the role of a "sober" and more courageous Sir John Falstaff, the math teacher as Scroop (the Archbishop of York), and Mr. Mosquito as Lord Percy. Turning Shakespeare's epic saga of comedy, history, and passion into a chapter book about a mouse and a Mighty Robot was no small feat. Dav and illustrator Martin Ontiveros (who himself is an oft-quoted Shakespearian authority) worked for months on the intricacies of this tale, bringing it to a level that would be both enlightening and entertaining to children. Martin took his role as illustrator very seriously on this book: "The meeting of the armies' leaders in the Gaultree Forest of Yorkshire is the emotional and tactical climax of the play, and handled with great dramatic precision by Shakespeare. We therefore found it imperative that the Flip-O-Rama should reflect the dichotomy of England's civil unrest during the period, and the resulting savage brutality of the Battle at Shrewsburie." — Martin Ontiveros Many versions of this Ricky Ricotta book were written before Dav Pilkey was satisfied. Finally, after much researching and soul-searching, Dav presented his final draft to Martin Ontiveros. Dav watched nervously as Martin paged through the mauscript, and could tell by the tears in Martins eyes that he had done well. "It's a big responsibility when you take on Shakespeare. My hope is that young readers will come away from this chapter book with a better understanding not only of Mutant Mosquitos and the dangers of their uprisings, but possibly with a profound spiritual experience as they discover the all-too obvious parallels between Ricky's math teacher and Shakespeare's powerfully daunting Archbishop ("turns insurrection to religion" indeed!)." — Dav Pilkey

1. It is helpful (but not essential) to read the tetralogy Richard II, Henry IV Part 1 and 2, and Henry V (in chronological order) to fully grasp the more subtle intricacies of "Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot Vs. The Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury". 2. Martin Ontiveros usually recommends the Arden editions of the Shakespeare classics listed above, but in this case Martin believes that the Oxford is superior. 3. Nothing on this page is true.

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