book review of captain underpants

Book Review: The Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey

Hoo-ha! Prepare to embark on a wacky journey into the world of children’s literature, where underpants reign supreme and humor is as pervasive as a whiff of a whoopee cushion. Yes, I’m talking about the wildly popular, slightly offbeat, and incredibly zany series “Captain Underpants” by Dav Pilkey.

I first stumbled upon this series when my niece showed me her treasured Captain Underpants book, her giggles echoing through the room as she flipped through the pages. That was my first brush with the wonderfully weird world of George, Harold, and their homemade superhero, Captain Underpants.

Book Summary of The Captain Underpants Series

The Captain Underpants Series centers around two mischievous fourth-graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, who reside in Piqua, Ohio. The boys are avid comic book creators, and their most notable creation is the aptly named superhero, Captain Underpants. Things take an unexpected turn when George and Harold hypnotize their cantankerous and bossy principal, Mr. Krupp. The hypnotism accidentally brings their comic book hero to life, and Mr. Krupp becomes the real-life Captain Underpants, complete with superhuman strength, durability, and the ability to fly, thanks to some alien “Extra-Strength Super Power Juice.”

The adventures that follow are nothing short of hilariously absurd. From battles with turbo toilets to run-ins with the Dandelion of Doom, George, Harold, and Captain Underpants face off against various forms of evil.

Their school nemesis, Melvin, is a constant thorn in their side, trying to get them in trouble whenever he can. The other adults in the series, often portrayed as mean or bumbling, add to the chaos and hilarity, some even boasting their own strange superpowers.

Book Review of The Captain Underpants Series

Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series is an absolute riot, delivering a bellyful of laughs with every page. But don’t let the potty humor and irreverent jokes fool you. This series is a wonderful blend of wit, adventure, and heart. The narrative cleverly intersperses challenging vocabulary amidst the fart jokes, making it a delightful read for both reluctant and advanced young readers. It might have a reputation for being infantile, but the truth is, it’s pretty nuanced.

The good-vs-evil plots balance humor and action with empathy and empowerment, making it a hit with young readers.

The Captain Underpants Series Rating

My Rating: 8.5/10. The Captain Underpants Series earns an 8.5 for its zany humor, heartfelt adventures, and innovative approach to introducing challenging vocabulary to children.

Amazon Rating : 4.9/5. The series has been well received by Amazon customers for its ability to engage young readers with its unique blend of humor and adventure.

Goodreads Rating : 4.45/5. Goodreads readers appreciate the series for its delightful illustrations and engaging storyline.

Where to Buy The Captain Underpants Series?

About the author dav pilkey.

David Murray “Dav” Pilkey Jr . is a renowned American cartoonist, author, and illustrator of children’s literature. Born on March 4, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio, Pilkey was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia as a child.

Often reprimanded for his behavior in class, he spent much time at a desk in the school hallway, where he created the Captain Underpants character. Pilkey is also known for his other children’s book series, including the Dog Man series, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot series, and the Dumb Bunnies series.

Pilkey’s journey to becoming an acclaimed children’s book author is a fascinating one. His first book, “World War Won,” was inspired by the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Pilkey wrote the book in 1987 as part of a national competition for student authors and won in his age category. This victory led to the publication of his first book.

In 2002, Pilkey published “ The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby ,” his first complete graphic novel. The novel was a major success, appearing at No. 6 on the USA Today bestseller list for all books, both adult and children’s, and was also a New York Times bestselling book for Children’s Middle Grade.

Related Reading

• Popular Banned Books You Should Read in 2023
• 31 Best-Selling Books of All Time
• Best Dystopian Books
• Best History Books
• Best Historical Fiction Books
• Best Political Satire Cartoon Books
• Best Biographies

Or,  click here to see all book recommendations

About The Author

Related Posts

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

17 Best Children’s Books to Read and Learn From in 2023

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Book Reviews

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey: Book Review

Their mean school principal, Mr. Krupp, really dislikes Harold and George for all the chaos they cause in his school. He blackmails them into behaving, but George and Harold find a way to fight back. Mr. Krupp never knows what hits him.

Oh my goodness. What a fun book! I was giggling away reading this by myself at the age of 33. I would have laughed to the point of tears as a child. But then, I’ve always loved a good fart joke. Unsophisticated, I know, but farts happen. Might as well get a laugh out of them.

George and Harold are a couple of comic geniuses. They have a talent for getting into trouble but their real talents lie in getting out of trouble. Their imagination and creativity seems to be limitless!

And what they do to Mr. Krupp… I loved it! What kid, no matter how well-behaved, doesn’t dream of rebelling against some authority figure? If we’re honest, we never lose those dreams. It feels so good to see someone acting out like that, even if it is just in the pages of a book.

There is one chapter that features flip-o-rama. I had such a good time with this! The book has reached a crashing climax and all of a sudden you get to sort of activate it yourself and watch the action take place. It was a lot of fun and I played around with it longer than I should probably admit to. When my husband got home, I made him watch as I flipped the pages to make the illustrations look animated. He even had to chuckle a little and admit that it was “pretty good.”

I really, really enjoyed this and recommend it for parents who don’t mind the potty humor. For parents struggling to find books for their sons to read, this would be a great one to try.

Captain Underpants is #13 on the ALA’s list of most frequently-banned books for the decade from 2000-2009 . According to the Marshall University website , it has been

• Challenged for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence.
• Challenged for offensive language and modeling bad behavior.
• Banned for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.
• Banned in Naugatuck (CN) due to concerns that it caused unruly behavior among children

Wow. This thin little children’s book has been busy. I would just have to say that all of these assertions have apparently been made by people who have no sense of humor and who’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a child. When I was about the age of this book’s target age-group, we loved the Wayside School stories by Louis Sachar. I bet someone somewhere said the same things about those books. (Oh, wait. Apparently, someone has .) The series was fun, they gave us a break for laughter during our day, and I can’t say that anyone in my class attempted to emulate any characters or scenes in the books. Children are able to differentiate between reality and stories, and behavior is learned at home. Teach them right at home and it won’t matter what they read.

You can see a few pages from the book at the official website (there are games and trivia there as well).

Find author Dav Pilkey on his website .

Buy The Adventures of Captain Underpants at

Have you read Captain Underpants ? What did you think? Do you think children model the behavior they read about in books?

I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s , my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books . I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

Related Posts (Automatically Generated):

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber: Book Review

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix: Book Review

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman: Book Review

It's not Artemis Fowl or The Phantom Toll Booth. But if you've ever had a kid that won't read — and is in that awkward 7-10, everything-involving-the-bathroom is funny range — this will get them reading. And laughing. Jeez, some people must have their senses of humor surgically removed! Thanks for the post, Jen.

I love to hear from you! Please contact me (menu bar, above) if you're having trouble commenting. Cancel reply

• Children's Books
• Growing Up & Facts of Life

Buy new: $8.12 $8.12 $3.99 delivery: May 7 - 22 Ships from: TheWorldShopUSA Sold by: TheWorldShopUSA

Buy used: $5.52.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Adventures of Captain Underpants Paperback – September 1, 1997

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Book 1 of 12 Captain Underpants
• Print length 121 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 2 - 5
• Lexile measure 720L
• Dimensions 5.25 x 0.25 x 7.5 inches
• Publisher Scholastic
• Publication date September 1, 1997
• ISBN-10 043908282X
• ISBN-13 978-0590846288
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Editorial Reviews

From school library journal, about the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0590846280
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic (September 1, 1997)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 121 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 043908282X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0590846288
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6 - 9 years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 720L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 2 - 5
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.25 x 7.5 inches
• #2,981 in Children's Friendship Books
• #3,009 in Children's Humor
• #4,388 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books)

About the author

When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hallway every day. Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books - the very first adventures of Dog Man and Captain Underpants.

In college, Dav met a teacher who encouraged him to illustrate and write. He won a national competition in 1986 and the prize was the publication of his first book, World War Won. He made many other books before being awarded the 1998 California Young Reader Medal for Dog Breath, which was published in 1994, and in 1997 he won the Caldecott Honor for The Paperboy.

The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, published in 2002, was the first complete graphic novel spin-off from the Captain Underpants series and appeared at #6 on the USA Today bestseller list for all books, both adult and children's, and was also a New York Times bestseller. It was followed by Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, also a USA Today bestseller. The unconventional style of these graphic novels is intended to encourage uninhibited creativity in kids.

His stories are semi-autobiographical and explore universal themes that celebrate friendship, tolerance, and the triumph of the good-hearted.

Dav loves to kayak in the Pacific Northwest with his wife.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Reviews with images

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TERRIFYING RETURN OF TIPPY TINKLETROUSERS

From the captain underpants series , vol. 9.

by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012

Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.

Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.

Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION

Share your opinion of this book

More In The Series

BOOK REVIEW

by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey

More by Dav Pilkey

by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba

by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE REVOLTING REVENGE OF THE RADIOACTIVE ROBO-BOXERS

From the captain underpants series , vol. 10.

by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 2013

Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.

Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.

The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall . Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.

Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4

Page Count: 224

Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013

THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER

From the legendary alston boys series , vol. 1.

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative,...

Can this really be the first time readers meet the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County? Cousins and veteran sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston show us that we are the ones who are late to their greatness.

These two black boys are coming to terms with the end of their brave, heroic summer at Grandma’s, with a return to school just right around the corner. They’ve already got two keys to the city, but the rival Epic Ellisons—twin sisters Wiki and Leen—are steadily gaining celebrity across Logan County, Virginia, and have in hand their third key to the city. No way summer can end like this! These young people are powerful, courageous, experienced adventurers molded through their heroic commitment to discipline and deduction. They’ve got their shared, lifesaving maneuvers committed to memory (printed in a helpful appendix) and ready to save any day. Save the day they must, as a mysterious, bendy gentleman and an oversized, clingy platypus have been unleashed on the city of Fry, and all the residents and their belongings seem to be frozen in time and place. Will they be able to solve this one? With total mastery, Giles creates in Logan County an exuberant vortex of weirdness, where the commonplace sits cheek by jowl with the utterly fantastic, and populates it with memorable characters who more than live up to their setting.

Pub Date: April 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-328-46083-7

Publisher: Versify/HMH

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Derick Brooks

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola

More by Lamar Giles

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Paris Alleyne with N. Steven Harris ; color by Bex Glendining

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Morgan Bissant

by Lamar Giles

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

    <  TO DAV PILKEY AT HOME

Tra-la-laaa it’s captain underpants, the #1 new york times bestselling series by dav pilkey, author and illustrator of dog man when fourth graders george and harold accidentally hypnotize their principal, they turn him into captain underpants. all it takes is a snap of the fingers to let this caped crusader loose upon a world of talking toilets, lunchroom zombies, and other outrageous villains., available now.

Order from your favorite retailer today!

He’s faster than a speeding waistband, more powerful than boxer shorts, and able to leap tall buildings without getting a wedgie! Meet Captain Underpants in the first book in the bestselling series!

First, George and Harold ruined the school’s science fair. Then, they accidentally invented an army of talking toilets. Who will stop the carnivorous commodes? This looks like a job for Captain Underpants!

After George and Harold’s latest prank causes the school’s cranky cafeteria ladies to quit, Mr. Krupp hires a trio of unusual replacements—who happen to look a lot like aliens!

When Professor Pippy P. Poopypants becomes the new science teacher . . . well, George and Harold almost cause the entire planet to be taken over by a maniacal, mad-scientist guy in a giant robot suit! Who will stop the perilous plot of Poopypants?!!?

George and Harold have REALLY done it this time . . . they’ve created a MONSTER! Meet Wedgie Woman—she’s faster, smarter, more evil than anything the world has seen before . . . and she’s on a mission to take over the world!

This time, the boys’ latest prank has snotty brainiac Melvin Sneedly in a stink. And when Melvin tries to transform himself into a bionic-powered superboy, things go from bad to boogers, literally, and the Bionic Booger Boy is born!

Our heroes faced the Bionic Booger Boy, but they forgot about the rotten Robo-Boogers! In an epic adventure that spans space and time, only Captain Underpants can mop away these mucus monsters!

George and Harold’s time-traveling Purple Potty has landed them in a crazy place where the teachers are nice and the cafeteria food is good. Then, things get weirder when they face their cleverest enemies yet: George and Harold’s evil-twin look-alikes! 

The boys travel back in time to kindergarten to take on the scariest bad guy yet—a sixth-grade bully who’s the nephew of their school principal, Mr. Krupp!

George and Harold are doomed, and they can’t even depend on Captain Underpants to save them. Why? Because Tippy Tinkletrousers prevented the boys from creating Captain Underpants in the first place!

Just when you thought it was safe to flush, the Turbo Toilet 2000 strikes back! The carnivorous commode known for devouring everything in its path has built up a real appetite... for REVENGE! Luckily, the fate of humanity is once again in the hands of George and Harold and their annoying nemesis Melvin Sneedly. Will Wedgie Power prevail? Or will the amazing Captain Underpants be flushed away forever?

George and Harold, and their doubles, Yesterday George and Yesterday Harold, have a good thing going. Two of them go to school, while the other two hide in the tree house and play video games all day -- then they switch! But it turns out there's something rotten in the state of Ohio, and it's smellier than a pile of putrid gym socks.

Even more fun stuff.

Art © Dav Pilkey.  DOG MAN, CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, CAT KID COMIC CLUB  TM /® Dav Pilkey.  FLIP-O-RAMA ® Dav Pilkey in the US.  All Rights Reserved.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

The adventures of captain underpants: captain underpants, book 1.

• Parents say (24)
• Kids say (42)

Based on 24 parent reviews

And we wonder why this generation lacks respect

Report this review, excessively violent, not for pre-teen children.

This title has:

Problems with authority

Teaches bullying, are we concerned to raise compassionate kids, adhd friendly, read it together, these books are hilarious and smarter than they seem.

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Book Review

Captain underpants and the revolting revenge of the radioactive robo-boxers —“captain underpants” series.

Readability Age Range

• Scholastic Inc.

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine . It is the 10th book in the “Captain Underpants” series.

Plot Summary

Fourth-graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins have created their own comic superhero named Captain Underpants. They begin this book by drawing a comic for readers that recaps how they developed the character. They also show how they accidentally brought it to life when they hypnotized their principal. Now whenever someone snaps his fingers, Mr. Krupp turns into Captain Underpants and fights crime wearing only his briefs and a curtain for a cape.

Their comic also recaps their previous adventure, in which evil professor Tippy Tinkletrousers built a robo-suit shaped like a giant pair of pants. The suit is also a time machine, which he used to escape from Captain Underpants. Tippy went back five years in time to George’s and Harold’s school. Some bullies saw him and got so scared, they went crazy.

Mr. Krupp was blamed for the incident and fired. The comic shows that back in present day, the world is in chaos. Since Krupp wasn’t George’s and Harold’s principal, he never became Captain Underpants, and he never saved the world. When Tippy returns to present day and sees the mess he’s made, he realizes he has to go back and keep Mr. Krupp from getting fired.

Tippy once again goes back in time five years. He uses his freeze ray to temporarily freeze the bullies. Then he confronts his other self and explains why they can’t scare the bullies. Just to keep an eye on himself, present-day Tippy shrinks his earlier self and puts him in his pocket.

Meanwhile in present day, Tippy becomes angry when some police officers laugh at his name. He freezes them with his freeze ray and then begins to chase George and Harold. They decide to save their pets, Sula and Crackers, by sending them back in time using the Purple Potty time machine created by their classmate, Melvin. They get in the machine with the pets, and Mr. Krupp follows behind them. When they travel 65 million years back in time, Mr. Krupp is sucked back with them.

Tippy, who was just about to freeze them, sends Tiny Tippy back in time 10 minutes so he can overhear where the kids and Krupp went. Tiny Tippy completes his mission and returns to Tippy, who now has two Tiny Tippys. The three Tippys travel back to the Mesozoic era to find the boys and Captain Underpants.

Sixty-five million years earlier, the Tippys catch up with the others and demolish the Purple Potty. The boys snap their fingers to propel Captain Underpants into action. While Tippy gives chase, the two smaller Tippys grow tired of his bravado. They decide to go forward in time to grab the Goosy Grow 4000 device. One Tippy points it at the other, and he grows to 30 feet tall. The smaller Tippy then demands he be enlarged as well, but the gigantic Tippy refuses.

Regular-sized Tippy fights Captain Underpants until the newly enlarged Tippy, called Supa Mega Tippy, appears. The two Tippys fight over who will get to destroy Captain Underpants, and Supa Mega Tippy detonates a bomb that triggers the start of the Cenozoic era. Supa Mega Tippy blasts into the Pleistocene epoch, with Captain Underpants, the boys and their pets close behind.

Supa Mega Tippy ties Krupp up in water to render him powerless. Meanwhile, the boys try to communicate with the local cavepeople. When they can’t do so with language, they create a lengthy, wordless comic by drawing on cave walls. The comic inspires the cavepeople to stop fearing Supa Mega Tippy and start finding ways to defeat him.

They trip him, tar him, set him on fire and do various other things before he tries his freeze ray on them. He doesn’t know that Tiny Tippy has tinkered with the freeze ray. Tiny Tippy enlarges himself to be 120 feet tall. The Tippys inadvertently start the ice age.

The boys and cavepeople try to untie Krupp. Just as everyone is about to become frozen, Tiny Tippy (who is now the largest Tippy) grabs everyone. The boys snap their fingers, and Captain Underpants awakens. He rips the trousers off of Tippy and uses them to make a gigantic hammock in which everyone can ride. Captain Underpants then shuttles them across the ocean to Southern France, where he leaves the cavepeople. Then he, the boys and the pets return to find the new largest Tippy so he can give them a ride back to present day.

Tippy doesn’t return them to present day, but to 30 years in the future. George and Harold are terrified to realize that, as adults, they’ve become the same kind of mean teachers they always despised. The boys, who had just vowed to make better choices after all this, decide to undo their vow. Their mean, older selves disappear. The boys snap their fingers and together, old and young Captain Underpants battle Tippy.

Tippy starts to detonate another bomb. Sula and Crackers start to push buttons in his robo-pants. The pets and Tippy are blasted back 13.7 billion years to a time before anything existed. When the bomb explodes, it causes the universe to spring into existence and rapidly expand. It begins to cool and the energy becomes converted into subatomic particles, which then form atoms and become matter.

Thirty years in the future, the boys and Captain Underpants find that Crackers, who they thought was a boy, has left three pterodactyl eggs. They try to keep them warm while wondering how to return to present day. Melvin, the brainiac who created the Purple Potty, comes from the past to retrieve them and take them home in his robotic squid suit.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems.

Characters travel back in time millions of years through different prehistoric eras. Evolution is mentioned. The narrator explains that what scientists refer to as the Big Bang was actually the explosion of Tippy’s 160-ton thermonuclear bomb.

Authority Roles

Principal Krupp will stop at nothing to catch the boys at their pranks. When Krupp becomes Captain Underpants, he and the boys work together to fight bad guys. The narrator mocks adults in general for being grumpy and hopeless. He explains that their disappointment in themselves for decades of failure and personal compromise causes them to ruin kids’ fun.

Profanity & Violence

The words heck , darned and butt appear. Several humorous warning pages appear, stating that extremely graphic violence will be shown in the pages that follow. What actually appears is mild cartoon violence, such as a person being hit in the head or having his nose hairs pulled. No blood or serious injuries are depicted.

Sexual Content

Discussion topics.

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Bathroom humor and general grossness: Silly cartoon drawings, which appear frequently throughout the book, depict Captain Underpants as a pudgy, bald man wearing fitted white briefs and a red cape. The large underpants never reveal any hint of the anatomy beneath. What appears to be a bloody person squashed under a giant foot turns out to be a squished ketchup packet. Tippy Tinkletrousers has a giant pair of robo-pants. He frequently pops his head through the zipper fly. A song in this book talks about drinking pee pee and eating poo poo.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

Latest Book Reviews

The Minor Miracle: The Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor

The Eyes and the Impossible

Castle Reef 2: Bloodlines

Compass and Blade

Nothing Else But Miracles

Waverider (Amulet #9)

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Advertisement

Supported by

Review: ‘Captain Underpants,’ Pretty Much What You’d Expect

• Share full article

By Neil Genzlinger

• June 1, 2017

Superintendents know that the job of school principal is one of the toughest to fill in the education world. It will be a lot more so now that moviegoing children and taxpayers will expect principals to run around in their underwear battling giant toilets.

Yes, “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie” has arrived. It’s a frenetic animated film from DreamWorks whose title is really all you need to know. If your child would be amused by seeing the word “underpants” in the name of a movie, this one will entertain. The film, based on Dav Pilkey’s book series , is about two friends, George (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch), who spend their spare time pulling pranks and creating D.I.Y. comic books about Captain Underpants, a superhero whose outfit boldly acknowledges that many superhero costumes in fact are little more than fancy undies.

The boys’ nemesis is Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms), the school principal. Maybe someone has made a kids’ movie with a principal who isn’t buffoonish or heartless, but here the stereotypes are embraced with a vengeance. Mr. Krupp has a sign on his desk that reads, “Hope dies here.” When the boys hypnotize him, he turns into Captain Underpants, and the story goes into overdrive, with the Captain becoming the world’s defense against the evil Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll).

The plot verges on indecipherable as the movie rolls along, and the grown-up jokes grow scarcer. Poopypants has a ray gun that can make things (including anything in a bathroom) gigantic, which at least keeps the tale colorful. The best animated movies for children are sublime. This one generally settles for noisy, though it throws in a positive message at the end.

Rated PG for — did you really need this pointed out? — bathroom humor. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

As “Sex and the City” became more widely available on Netflix, younger viewers have watched it with a critical eye . But its longtime millennial and Gen X fans can’t quit.

Hoa Xuande had only one Hollywood credit when he was chosen to lead “The Sympathizer,” the starry HBO adaptation of a prize-winning novel. He needed all the encouragement he could get .

Even before his new film “Civil War” was released, the writer-director Alex Garland faced controversy over his vision of a divided America  with Texas and California as allies.

Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions,” a comedy about millennials weathering the early days of the pandemic , will ask audiences to return to a time that many people would rather forget.

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.