Captain Underpants stands for "all things pre-shrunk and cottony!" and fights crime using y-fronts! Created by friends Harold and George, the comic book hero comes to life when they hypnotise their school Principle so he believes that he is in fact the pant-clad superhero! Dav Pilkey's wonderfully silly story The Adventures of Captain Underpants is the only book I know to claim to have both 'Wedgie Power' and 'Flip-o-Rama', and what a difference that makes! No, honestly! This is a classic book for reluctant readers! The good smattering of toilet humour is an instant attraction! This particular story includes as rubber dog poo, a evil villain in a nappy who falls foul to said poo (no pun intended), and a good amount of references to pants! It is also full of practical jokes, general mischief and downright silliness. The perfect combination!
When my boyfriend came over on Friday afternoon he found me at my desk whisking off emails to various people and having a think about my upcoming essay (more about that another day). Whilst I finished my admin he picked up the copy of The Wind in the Willows that was on my desk and proceeded to read excerpts to me, with all the voices! This was of course hilarious, so we decided to find other things he could read. We decided that The Adventures of Captain Underpants should be next! He'd read it when he was small and was keen to relive the adventure! So we snuggled up in my room and spent the whole afternoon reading. It was lovely! I faintly remember having read this book when I was small, but I wasn't sure, so I came to it with hardly any prior knowledge. It was great! I think having it read to me, complete with a myriad of American accents (!), made it all the better. I can't imagine having put that amount of animation or expression into it had I read it quietly to myself. He made it really enjoyable!
I asked Martin why the Captain Underpants books appealed to him when he was small?
" I immediately found the idea of it really funny. I loved reading them because I loved the style and the humour and how the illustrations would tell their own mini stories in tandem with the text, like George and Harold changing around the letters on the school signs to make rude and silly phrases. For small books a huge amount was contained in them. The stories were hugely eventful, and each book would include an issue of George and Harold's Captain Underpants to read as part of the story (which resonated with me as a boy because I saw myself in that. I too loved writing). There was also a cool section in each book called Flip-o-rama which involved flipping a page back and fourth to animate two images which was loads of fun. I think the best part of Captain Underpants was that they were just plain funny and I remember the books were a good way of bringing me and my peers at primary school together, as we had that humour in common. "
I too remember these books being a huge hit with boys when I was growing up, and to be fair they probably still are. It has been proven that boys come to reading in a different way to girls, and that often they are slower to pick up the reading bug. The Captain Underpants books seem to be the remedy to this. My experience is that once hooked boys seem to devour the whole series, and come out of it wanting to read. I showed just the cover to my cousin Archie, who's five, and he was instantly interested, I didn't even need to read it! These, and other series that attract boys like magnets, should be treasured! We need more!
I would thoroughly recommend The Adventure of Captain Underpants to any one who fancies a laugh! It is the perfect book for reading aloud and will delight children and adults alike!
Thanks for reading, and listening! L x
Next up Carrie's War by Nina Bawden.
