Captain Underpants
Dav Pilkey's 1997 series opener was a quiet revolution in early chapter books, the kind of title that turned sworn-off reluctant readers into kids who finished the whole library shelf. George Beard and Harold Hutchins are best friends in Mr. Krupp's elementary school whose homemade comic books star Captain Underpants, a hilarious superhero who fights crime in nothing but his briefs and a cape. After they accidentally hypnotize their permanently furious principal, Mr. Krupp starts genuinely believing he is Captain Underpants and chases criminals through the actual world while George and Harold scramble to clean up after him. Pilkey mixes prose, comic-book interludes, and Flip-O-Rama animation tricks on every other spread. The result is an unembarrassed celebration of fart jokes, anti-authoritarian goofiness, and the strange power of two kids and a photocopier.
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Best friends George and Harold prank their hated principal one too many times. With a 3-D Hypno-Ring, they accidentally turn Mr. Krupp into the comic-book hero from their own homemade comics, Captain Underpants.
Dav Pilkey has written 12 main Captain Underpants novels, plus several spinoff series including Dog Man, which began as a Captain Underpants comic. The original series is complete.
Yes. Captain Underpants has topped the American Library Association's most-challenged books list multiple times, with objections to its toilet humor, depictions of authority figures, and themes some find irreverent. It remains popular with kids.
Captain Underpants was written by Dav Pilkey, published in 1997 by Blue Sky Press.
Captain Underpants is 128 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Captain Underpants takes most readers 2 to 3 hours to finish.
Captain Underpants is a standalone novel by Dav Pilkey, not part of a series.
Captain Underpants is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
