The ubiquitous stranger terrorized the taciturn megalomaniac, or What the boys are reading.

Zachary (6) has been reading Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series lately. Following is his review of Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures From Venus, as dictated to me. We're working on reading comprehension, so if you want complete accuracy you might want to go to Amazon.



This book is about a mouse, and his name is Ricky. There are seven voodoo vultures. Ricky's mother and dad don't let Ricky and his robot watch TV. They make a cookie and the cookie has hot chili peppers in it. Ricky and his robot gave it to the vultures and they ate it and steam came out of their ears.

I liked this book because I liked the vultures and I liked the fighting with the battles and, also, I liked the part when the robot took Victor von Vulture to Squeakyville Jail. My favorite part was in Hawaii, and they came back with some TV sandwiches.

Seven-year-olds and 8-year-olds would like this book. It's okay if a 6-year-old reads it. It's a chapter book and they might like it.



One of Corey's many favorites this week is There Is a Bird on Your Head, by Mo Willems. Corey's only 3, so his reading comprehension is even worse than Zachary's, but I think he did a pretty good job with this one.



Me: What is this book about?
C: Birds on the elephant's head.
Me: Anything else?
C: They go somewhere else.
Me: Tell me about the elephant...
C: He jumped up.
Me: Tell me about the pig...
C: The birds were on the piggie's head.
Me: My favorite part was...
C: The birds on the elephant's head.
Me: I liked this book because...
C: It's sweet and nice.