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Summary: Wonderful for my 7 year old!
Review: I believe it was Darwin, or possibly Frank Stallone who said 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Captain Underpants is proof.Pilkey has seemed to accomplish something that Chekov tried for years and failed to achieve with 'Professor Poopy Pants': To capture the haunted Weltschmertz of the K-8 set. 'Poopy' answers eternal questions about honor amidst harsh circumstances more than 'Uncle Vanya' ever did. Namely, how a man in his underpants can weather the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without losing his dignity. 'Poop' addresses this and more. I think when we look back on literature in years to come, we'll come to appreciate the message in Pilkey's work concerning existential angst in the modern age, as well as how to avoid using too much starch in our laundry. 'Professor Poopypants', 'Captain Underpants and the Talking Toilet', and 'Captain Underpants and the Incredibly Naughty Lunch Ladies from Outer Space' will remain stark reminders of the existential strife we all struggle to overcome on a daily basis. - Jim Stiene...
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Summary: Not Just for Little Boys Anymore. . . !
Review: I bought these books on a lark, having seen them in the Scholastic Book Club folder. Pilkey's sense of "childish" outrageousness make them a riot to read. Little boys should love the whole notion of a Captain Underpants and the antics he and the boys engage in. However, much to my surprise, my sister-in-law, a junior in college at the time, had the time of her life reading them while home on winter break. She could not stop laughing. The set ended up being one of her primary--and by far her favorite--Christmas present last year! Jenn was old enough to see the silly antics for what they are: a great diversion for older readers who want to get away from themes, essays, and literary analyses. The value to young readers is immense, as well: characters to whom they can relate, a harmless fantasy tale, humor to which they can relate, and the ultimate conflict of good vs. evil (with the lines nicely blurred--the bad guys aren't always that bad, and the good guys aren't always that good). Great stuff!!
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Summary: The whoopie cushion is the best part
Review: I'm sure kids find these books hilarious. I find them mildly amusing (especially the whoopie cushion), but I also find them troubling. I like the premise -- two kids writing their own comic books, their principal turning into an underwear-clad superhero -- but what bothers me is that in the kids' comic strips, the author has purposely misspelled dozens of words, as if ignorant children have written the captions. For the adults this is cute, but for the children who read these cartoons over and over again these misspellings will become fatally etched in their memories. Spare us the cutesy backward letters, Mr. Pilkey, and help children learn how to spell.
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Summary: Wonderful for my 7 year old!
Review: My 7 year old son discovered the "Captain Underpants" series at a book fair at his school. I have bought every single book now and he has read them faster than I ever imagined! I hope that Dav Pilkey will keep them coming!
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Summary: Kids love it. Parents hate it
Review: My kids LOVE Captain Underpants, but I've found out the hard way that they don't make for very good read-aloud, bed time books. Be warned : These books are set up in comic strip form on a lot of their pages and without showing your kids EVERY page of the book while reading it, they'll be lost in the story. They're really good books, don't get me wrong, just not very good read-aloud book unless you are sitting in a circle or prepared to do the 'finger under the word as you read' type thing. My four and six year old LOVE them though. The woopie cushion that came with the box set popped in like 2 minutes. I was heart broken, let me tell ya. :)
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Summary: BOOKS CONTAIN MISSPELLED WORDS.
Review: My son has loved all of these books at the age of 5 and 6 years old. We have reread some of them 5 times. Mom and Dad have to admit to laughing at them also. George and Harold are mischevious to the max ---- great entertainment for the boy set who love the humor that pertains to grossness, potty's and seeking revenge on restrictive adults. Professor Poopypants had us in stitches with his rules for naming every human in the world. Sincerely, Mrs. Liversniffer.
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Summary: Captain Underpants Chapter Books
Review: The simplistic manner by which this series of chapter books were written are easily understood by young readers. The plots captivate, and the characters are funny and likeable. These chapter books are recommended for readers 9 and over, but my son, at age 6, has read them all, and can't wait for the next batch to come out. I highly recommend this series!
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Summary: Silliness for the reluctant reader
Review: Yes, "Captain Underpants" is not great literature, nor does it even begin to approach anything beyond lowbrow humor. It may be that these are reasons that kids who have not found reading fun before like his ridiculous exploits. How many kids wish they could run around solving the world's problems--or at least, those in the school lunchroom--dressed in cape and armed with a plunger? How many kids may even, as toddlers, have thought they were doing exactly that? I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there with just such photos in the shoeboxes, and I think this is the appeal of these books for kids. I would agree that once your children are hooked, try and encourage them to move on toward more substantial reading. Then again, I've been known on occasion to read through a pointless novel as escapism; maybe this is escapism for kids!
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