Title of Book: Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets; Author: Dav Pilkey; ISBN: 978-0545027274; Published by: The Blue Sky Press. Available in Spanish. Title: Captain Calzoncillos y el ataque de los inodores parlantes; Author: Dav Pilkey; ISBN: 978-0606249898; Published by: Turtleback Books
Summary:
The beginning of the book is an introduction (in comic book format) on how Captain Underpants came into being. In a previous adventure, our protagonists Harold and George hypnotized their principal Mr. Krupp so now any time he hears fingers snapping, he turns into the underwear sporting, crime fighting Captain Underpants. In this particular adventure, Hoard and George were in detention and they were drawing a comic book. They wanted to make copies of the comic book so they snuck into the Invention Contest and made copies on the copier that has been modified to bring to life anything it copies. And, you guessed it, their comic book was about talking toilets. A teacher snapped her fingers within hearing of Mr. Krupp who rushed to grab his outfit and began fighting those toilets. The end of our story found Mr. Krupp flushed with success (so sorry; I couldn’t resist) singing his trademark Tra-La-Laaaa! as he ran out of the school ready for his next adventure.
My Impressions:
I’m not exactly sure why this book is so controversial. Yes, there was a crazed, hypnotized principal running around in his underwear battling crime. Yes, there was a fair amount of “potty” humor. (Last year I was cursed out by a first grader who repeatedly screamed, “You are a toilet!” at the top of his lungs. And you thought being a librarian was all fun and games!) The underwear and off color humor didn’t bother me at all. What bothered me was the attitude of hate the teachers at the school exhibited toward George and Harold. They actually threw a party when the two boys got kicked out of school. I also objected to the numerous misspellings (“thier”, “pored” for poured and “exsept” for except).
Flashlight Reading Under the Covers Rating: 0 out of 5
Sorry, no way will this former first grade teacher give a book anything other than a “0” when their is spelled “thier”; not even if it has amazingly cool Flip-O-Ramas.
Reviews:
Grade 3-6 This epic novel opens with an introductory cartoon strip that tells the top-secret truth about how two kids, George and Harold, used the 3-D Hypno-Ring to hypnotize their principal, who now becomes Captain Underpants whenever he hears fingers snapping. In this second adventure, the boys are banned from attending the annual Invention Convention and sent to detention to keep them out of trouble. This, of course, is impossible, so they sneak into the school that evening and tamper with all of the inventions to wreak havoc. They also make copies of their newest comic strip of vicious attack toilets and the daddy monster of them all Turbo Toilet 2000. The copy machine is an invention that duplicates into live matter all images it copies and the attack toilets come to life. The wild story actually comes to a logical conclusion, but it really doesn’t matter. The fun is in the reading, which is full of puns, rhymes, and nonsense along with enough revenge and wish fulfillment for every downtrodden fun-seeking kid who never wanted to read a book. The cartoon drawings and the amazing flip-o-rama pages make this book so appealing that youngsters won’t notice that their vocabulary is stretching. Hooray for Captain Underpants! Watch him fly off your shelves. Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL From School Library Journal
Suggestions for Use in a Library:
Host a cartoon drawing party. I suggest getting proficient at a few basics like people or trucks using Ed Emberly’s Complete Funprint Drawing Book or Ed Emberly’s Fingerprint Drawing Book. Those are particularly easy to follow and they involve the child’s thumb or fingerprint. Other supplies you’ll need are copies of blank pages that look like comic book panels, markers, washable ink pads (for the thumb prints) and some wet wipes. Do some demonstrations at the front of the room and perhaps plant some very basic story lines (a superhero saves a dog from the bad guy) then let the children loose to create their comic books.
Summary:
The beginning of the book is an introduction (in comic book format) on how Captain Underpants came into being. In a previous adventure, our protagonists Harold and George hypnotized their principal Mr. Krupp so now any time he hears fingers snapping, he turns into the underwear sporting, crime fighting Captain Underpants. In this particular adventure, Hoard and George were in detention and they were drawing a comic book. They wanted to make copies of the comic book so they snuck into the Invention Contest and made copies on the copier that has been modified to bring to life anything it copies. And, you guessed it, their comic book was about talking toilets. A teacher snapped her fingers within hearing of Mr. Krupp who rushed to grab his outfit and began fighting those toilets. The end of our story found Mr. Krupp flushed with success (so sorry; I couldn’t resist) singing his trademark Tra-La-Laaaa! as he ran out of the school ready for his next adventure.
My Impressions:
I’m not exactly sure why this book is so controversial. Yes, there was a crazed, hypnotized principal running around in his underwear battling crime. Yes, there was a fair amount of “potty” humor. (Last year I was cursed out by a first grader who repeatedly screamed, “You are a toilet!” at the top of his lungs. And you thought being a librarian was all fun and games!) The underwear and off color humor didn’t bother me at all. What bothered me was the attitude of hate the teachers at the school exhibited toward George and Harold. They actually threw a party when the two boys got kicked out of school. I also objected to the numerous misspellings (“thier”, “pored” for poured and “exsept” for except).
Flashlight Reading Under the Covers Rating: 0 out of 5
Sorry, no way will this former first grade teacher give a book anything other than a “0” when their is spelled “thier”; not even if it has amazingly cool Flip-O-Ramas.
Reviews:
Grade 3-6 This epic novel opens with an introductory cartoon strip that tells the top-secret truth about how two kids, George and Harold, used the 3-D Hypno-Ring to hypnotize their principal, who now becomes Captain Underpants whenever he hears fingers snapping. In this second adventure, the boys are banned from attending the annual Invention Convention and sent to detention to keep them out of trouble. This, of course, is impossible, so they sneak into the school that evening and tamper with all of the inventions to wreak havoc. They also make copies of their newest comic strip of vicious attack toilets and the daddy monster of them all Turbo Toilet 2000. The copy machine is an invention that duplicates into live matter all images it copies and the attack toilets come to life. The wild story actually comes to a logical conclusion, but it really doesn’t matter. The fun is in the reading, which is full of puns, rhymes, and nonsense along with enough revenge and wish fulfillment for every downtrodden fun-seeking kid who never wanted to read a book. The cartoon drawings and the amazing flip-o-rama pages make this book so appealing that youngsters won’t notice that their vocabulary is stretching. Hooray for Captain Underpants! Watch him fly off your shelves. Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL From School Library Journal
Suggestions for Use in a Library:
Host a cartoon drawing party. I suggest getting proficient at a few basics like people or trucks using Ed Emberly’s Complete Funprint Drawing Book or Ed Emberly’s Fingerprint Drawing Book. Those are particularly easy to follow and they involve the child’s thumb or fingerprint. Other supplies you’ll need are copies of blank pages that look like comic book panels, markers, washable ink pads (for the thumb prints) and some wet wipes. Do some demonstrations at the front of the room and perhaps plant some very basic story lines (a superhero saves a dog from the bad guy) then let the children loose to create their comic books.
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