jnbmoore's Full Review: Dav Pilkey - Captain Underpants and the Perilous P...
Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series is either loved or hated by parents and teachers. For the kids who read these books though, I have never run into a child who dislikes this series.
Monkey Girl is in the fifth grade and has been reading Captain Underpants since she was in 1st grade. She owns many and she still is not ashamed to bring them home from school. This week the one that caught her eye was Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants.
For those who do not know, Captain Underpants is the alter ego of mean principal Mr. Krupp. It is such a secret even Mr. Krupp doesn't know that he's a super hero. The only two who know are George and Harold. They aren't bad boys, just a bit mischievous.
The books are known for their combination of words and black and white illustrations on each page. It is easy to tell from a distance if a child has a Captain Underpants book as he or she may be flipping two pages back and forth. This is "Flip-O-Rama" in which a battle may being fought and "If you flip quickly, the two pictures will start to look like one animated picture." George and Harold are also known for taking the letters off of perfectly boring signs and using the letters to create humorous phrases.
The controversial part of each book is the comic book written by the George and Harold. Mr. Pilkey uses invented spelling that is common in 8-10 year old boys.
In this edition, Professor Pippy P. Poopypants is the star scientist of New Swissland. In his country, his name is rather normal. When he gets laughed out of every major scientific institution in the United States, he takes a job and Harold and George's elementary school. He figures that his name won't be a problem as "You can always count on the sweetness and innocence of children!"
Needless to say, Professor Poopypants gets laughed out of the classroom. Something in him cracks and he uses his scientific devices not for good but to take over the world. Who can save the town?
I do think this is one of the most popular books due to the "Name Change-O-Chart 2000". With this chart, the reader can get a New Swissland name. For example, my new name would be "Lumpy Bananabreath." This chart can keep a reader's attention for hours laughing at the name combinations.
As for the complaints about the invented spelling. I disagree. In this book, the comic book pages were only about 12 pages out of 155. During the rest of the book, Mr. Pilkey does show a knack for wordsmithship. This book can be used for discussing major plot elements and progression of story, as well as, vocabulary words. One could even discuss what it means to test the "limits of our readers' willing suspension of disbelief!"
Harold and George may not be angels, but they do try to fight on the side of good. They just get distracted a bit. This is also a good point to discuss behavior with a child.
It may be easier just to dismiss Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants as tripe but take time to read it with your child. It may end up giving you a great talk. At the very least, I know it will make both of you laugh -- at least once -- out loud.
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