The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Color Edition - Hardcover

Pilkey, Dav

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0545499089 ISBN 13: 9780545499088

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 2013

Synopsis

Fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins are a couple of class clowns. The only thing they enjoy more than playing practical jokes is creating their own comic books. And together they've created the greatest superhero in the history of their elementary school: Captain Underpants! His true identity is SO secret, even HE doesn't know who he is!

About this title

From the Author

NOTES (from Pilkey.com):

This book is based on a superhero that Dav Pilkey invented way back in 1973 when he was a second-grader. The comics that Dav made were very much like the comic book that George and Harold sell on the playground in Chapter 3.

When I began making children's books in 1986, my goal was to one day make a book about Captain Underpants. I wrote several different versions of this story, including a 48-page comic book, but every publisher who saw it turned it down. When the book was finally accepted in 1996, it was a real dream come true! -- Dav Pilkey

Many of the things in the book are taken directly from Dav's childhood: the practical jokes, the comics, even the cheesy animation technique called "Flip-O-Rama" (Dav and his friends used to amuse themselves by making these flip-action animated pictures in elementary school).

Dav Pilkey had dyslexia when he was a kid. He was always discouraged by wordy texts, small type, and lengthy chapters.

My goal with The Adventures of Captain Underpants was to make a chapter book that SEEMED like a picture book. So I wrote incredibly short chapters and tried to fill each page with more pictures than words. I wanted to create a book that kids who don't like to read would want to read. -- Dav Pilkey


Fun Facts:
1. George and Harold's first names were inspired by one of Dav Pilkey's favorite movies, It's A Wonderful Life (directed by Frank Capra). This is a film about two brothers named George and Harold Bailey, and how George's life is changed dramatically when an angel gives him a chance to see what the world would have been like if he'd never been born.
2. George and Harold's last names (Beard and Hutchins) were the last names of Dav's two favorite "Little Rascals" (a.k.a. Hal Roach's Rascals, a.k.a. Our Gang) characters: "Stimey (Matthew Beard)" and "Wheezer (Bobby Hutchins)".
3. George and Harold's school, Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, got it's name from "Curly" of "The Three Stooges". Curly's given name was Jerome Horwitz.
4. If you look at the box on page 45, you'll note that George and Harold live in Piqua, Ohio. Dav Pilkey chose Piqua as the setting because it used to be known as the Underwear Capital of the World. Every year Piqua hosts an "Underwear Festival"! It seemed like the perfect place!

About the Author

As a child, Dav Pilkey was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hall every day. Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories, so he spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books.

In the second grade, Dav Pilkey created a comic book about a superhero named Captain Underpants. His teacher ripped it up and told him he couldn’t spend the rest of his life making silly books. Fortunately, Dav was not a very good listener.

Dav has gone on to create award-winning and bestselling books for children. His Captain Underpants series has more than 80 million copies in print worldwide and has been translated into more than 28 languages. In 2017, DreamWorks Animation brought the character to the silver screen in the feature film adaptation Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, and Netflix is now streaming The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants TV show.

Dav’s latest creation, Dog Man, continues to be a #1 New York Times bestselling series with more than 13 million copies in print worldwide and translations available in more than 21 languages. Dav is also the creator of the Dragon series, the Dumb Bunnies series, Dog Breath, and The Paperboy, which is a Caldecott Honor Book.

Dav lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0545499089
• ISBN 13: 9780545499088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Pilkey Dav