Summary
The Adventures of Captain Underpants is a widely popular children’s cartoon book in which character’s George and Harold try to trick their principal, Mr. Krupp, and end up hypnotizing him. Mr. Krupp then turns into the two boy’s made-up superhero: Captain Underpants. As he jumps from the window to fight crime, George and Harold follow him and discover the evil Doctor Diaper, planning to use a crystal to destroy the moon. The misadventures of the three go on for fourteen books.
About the Author
Dave Pilkey is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and author of children’s literature. Born on March 4th, 1966, Pilkey started his illustrator journey at Kent State University where his English professor encouraged him to write children’s books. It was there where he entered his first book, World War Won, into a national competition for student authors and won. Afterwards, Pilkey went on to create some of the most well known children’s cartoons including, Captain Underpants and Dog Man. Pilkey states Captain Underpants was a character he created during the second grade, when his teacher accidentally said the word underwear. He now lives with his wife, Sayrui Pilkey, in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he stills writes comics for Dog Man, including Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, which is the #1 bestselling children’s book of 2023 in America.
Why was it banned?
The Adventures of Captain Underpants, believe it or not, is among the American Library Association’s list of the top 100 most banned and challenged books from the past decade. This was because of challenges made by parents because of “violent imagery” and offensive language. An ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom director Barbara Jones states, “Parents tend to be afraid of ‘potty language.’ A lot of people still think of children’s books as academic, that they should be more restrained.” A variety of challenges were made on the series including a challenge that later banned the book because of a gay character. In one of the articles stating why his book was banned, Pilkey responded, “To set the record straight, I should point out that my books contain no sex, no profanity, no nudity, no drugs, and no graphic violence. So what’s the big deal? Well, most of it boils down to the fact that not every book is right for every person. There are some adults out there who are not amused by the things that make most children laugh, and so they try to stomp these things out.”
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