The Adventures of Captain Underpants

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Citation: Pilkey, Dav. The Adventures of Captain Underpants. The Blue Sky Press, 1997. 

Plot:
George and Harold make homemade comics in their treehouse. One such comic is 'The Adventures of Captain Underpants' where a large super hero parades around in underwear saving the day with wedgies, toilets, and underwear. George and Harold sell their comics at school until one day they get caught playing pranks and the principal forces them to stop making their comics. The boys decide to try and hypnotize their strict and grumpy principal, only they accidentally turn *him* into Captain Underpants, and he begins running around town trying to fight crime in his underwear. Can George and Harold get their principal back? Or is he forever Captain Underpants?

Review:
The humor in the book is definitely potty humor (pun TOTALLY intended). In the comic pages there are spelling errors, and for me the book was a little difficult to find interesting. Thankfully it was a quick read. However, I have tons of students completely obsessed with Captain Underpants. Often, this is what boys are reading. At least they are reading! Granted, these books are definitely reading down for many tweens, as the reading level in this book isn't very high. But at some point you are just happy to get some of your reluctant readers reading, and the reading level isn't exactly something to squabble about. Dav Pilkey has a ton of books out that really appeal to boys, and it is a good idea to have some on hand for the boys that complain they don't like to read. My son was giggling for an hour about the wedgie power.

Age:
8 and up
Similar Titles:
The Magic Pickle
Super Diaper Baby
Ook and Gluk
Ricky Ricotta