![Picture](/uploads/5/5/9/4/55948695/6301182.jpg?195)
The Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Piley, 1997, New York, New York: Scholastic. 121 pages. ISBN: 978-0439082822.
Series: Captain Underpants
Age/Interest Level: 7-10 years
Lexile Level: 720L
Awards: N/A
Reader Annotation: Best friends and fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, are known for their pranks and their comic books. After one prank goes wrong, the two hypnotize their principal, Mr. Krupp, and turn him into their comic book creation: Captain Underpants.
Plot Summary: George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two fourth graders who love to pull pranks and make comics. After a particularly elaborate prank at a football game, their hateful principal, Mr. Krupp, finally thinks he has enough evidence to suspend them. Instead, he blackmails them and makes them perform various tasks as well as behave. George orders a 3-D Hypno-Ring and uses it to hypnotize Mr. Krupp, eventually turning him into their own superhero creation: Captain Underpants! The prank goes too far, resulting in the boys following Mr. Krupp around town as he tries to fight crime, including the mad scientist Dr. Diaper.
Critical Evaluation: Captain Underpants is a purely silly book, aimed at firing as many jokes as possible in a short amount of space. The plot is ridiculous and spoofs superhero comics with commentary from George and Harold. The text runs fairly even with illustrations, making for a bit more reading than a traditional graphic novel for this age group. However, the mile a minute jokes and playful story techniques (portions of the work contain a flipbook), make it an easy to digest read.
Why Included: The Captain Underpants series taps into a very silly sense of humor that might aid some reluctant readers. It is pure fun with a side of ridiculous.
Series: Captain Underpants
Age/Interest Level: 7-10 years
Lexile Level: 720L
Awards: N/A
Reader Annotation: Best friends and fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, are known for their pranks and their comic books. After one prank goes wrong, the two hypnotize their principal, Mr. Krupp, and turn him into their comic book creation: Captain Underpants.
Plot Summary: George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two fourth graders who love to pull pranks and make comics. After a particularly elaborate prank at a football game, their hateful principal, Mr. Krupp, finally thinks he has enough evidence to suspend them. Instead, he blackmails them and makes them perform various tasks as well as behave. George orders a 3-D Hypno-Ring and uses it to hypnotize Mr. Krupp, eventually turning him into their own superhero creation: Captain Underpants! The prank goes too far, resulting in the boys following Mr. Krupp around town as he tries to fight crime, including the mad scientist Dr. Diaper.
Critical Evaluation: Captain Underpants is a purely silly book, aimed at firing as many jokes as possible in a short amount of space. The plot is ridiculous and spoofs superhero comics with commentary from George and Harold. The text runs fairly even with illustrations, making for a bit more reading than a traditional graphic novel for this age group. However, the mile a minute jokes and playful story techniques (portions of the work contain a flipbook), make it an easy to digest read.
Why Included: The Captain Underpants series taps into a very silly sense of humor that might aid some reluctant readers. It is pure fun with a side of ridiculous.