Module 15: The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Citation:
Pilkey, Dav. The Adventures of Captain Underpants. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997.

Summary:
The plot of this lighthearted adventure revolves around George and Harold, and their principal Mr. Krupp.  When George and Harold play a practical joke that causes the school's football team to lose their game, Mr. Krupp forces George and Harold to serve him in exchange for not telling the school who played the practical joke.  After a few weeks of this, the boys use a hypno-ring to hypnotize Mr. Krupp into giving them the video evidence of them playing the joke.  They also decide to hypnotize their principal into believing that he is Captain Underpants, the superhero of the comic books drawn by George and Harold.  Mr. Krupp, now Captain Underpants, goes to fight crime and the villian Dr. Diaper, and George and Harold must find a way to turn him back into Mr. Krupp.

My Impressions:
This book definitely caters to the sense of humor and minds of young boys, with the superhero running around in his underwear, and the villian being foiled by fake doggie doo-doo.  In addition, the book plays to the stereotypical dislike that young boys have towards their principal, particularly if they are troublemakers like George and Harold.  Pilkey seems to have based the two boys on himself, as he once was young boy who spent more time drawing and playing jokes than he did on his studies.  Given this, he has written a book that will appeal to boys who, otherwise, would probably not want to spend time reading or be able to devote the focus required to read a book.  While the content may be considered inappropriate to some adults, for young boys it is just what is needed to grasp their attention.

Suggestions for the use of this book:
This book is definitely a good suggestion for boys who don't like to read.  It can also be used in any storytime about superheroes, as a humorous alternative to the classic ones.

Reviews:
Review of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey.  Publisher's Weekly, June 9, 1997.
Few things command disrespect like the sight of a man wearing whitie-tighties. However, the bald and barefoot Captain Underpants happens to be a superhero. As one character notes, "Most superheroes look like they're flying around in their underwear....Well, this guy actually is flying around in his underwear!" The Captain, defender of "Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony," is the comic-book invention of two troublemaking fourth-graders, George and Harold. He comes to life after the boys use a mail-order device to hypnotize their diabolical school principal, who sheds his outergarments and battles crime in only a cape and Y-fronts. As his creators try to snap him out of the trance, Captain Underpants threatens bank robbers with "Wedgie Power" and foils the villainous Dr. Diaper (" `You know,' said George, `up until now this story was almost believable' "). Pilkey (Dog Breath) uses a sitcom-like formula to set up the rivalry between the boys and the principal, and to strip the authority figure of dignity. After a tepid exposition, he falls back on the notion that undies and mild bathroom humor are funny in themselves?and, given his intended audience, he's probably right. Line drawings of the slapstick action appear on every page, and "Flip-O-Rama" climactic sequences create an agreeably corny "motion-picture" effect. But the lowbrow jokes (the Captain uses an elastic waistband to apprehend an evildoer) chiefly constitute this tale's harmless, non-gross appeal.

Review of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey.  School Library Journal, February 1, 2000.
Pilkey packs an amazing amount of humor into what could have been a one-gag novel. Besides turning their principal into a silly superhero, George and Harold play tricks on just about everyone. They pepper pom-poms, put bubble bath in tubas, and fill a football with helium. Pilkey's illustrations are half the fun, and that magical moment when the hypnotized Principal Krupp dons his Captain Underpants uniform and sings "Tra-La-Laaaaaaaa" is priceless. Krupp is a worthy successor to Lamar J. Spurgle, the nemesis of "the Cut-Ups" in James Marshall's great picture books. The "kneel here" sign in front of his desk says it all. Kid Appeal Award: Superheroes are always fascinating to kids. And children of a certain age will laugh at anything that has to do with underpants. Combining the two was a stroke of comic genius.

Module 14: Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs

Citation:
Katz, Alan. Take Me Out of the Bathtub. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2001.

Summary:
In this book, Alan Katz takes classic children's songs and writes new lyrics for them.  Including "Take me out of the bathtub," for "Take me out to the ballgame," and "Stinky, Stinky Diaper Change," for "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Accompanying the new fun lyrics are amusing illustrations by David Catrow. 

My Impressions:
The new lyrics for the songs are cleverly written, and I believe that they play to a child's sense of humor.  The words used in the lyrics are not advanced, although some extremely young children probably would not understand every word.  However, the illustrations that accompany the text also provides entertainment for the children who can visualize the lyrics of the songs as they are singing them or being sung to by an adult.

Suggestions for the use of this book:
This book is a great book for parents to use in order to have fun with their children, but it can also be used in a storytime setting as many songs used in storytimes are sung to familiar tunes.  The different lyrics would provide entertainment to children if they are accompanied by costumes and actions.

Reviews:
Peterson, Lauren.  Review of Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, by Alan Katz.  Booklist, July 1, 2001.
Katz, a comedy writer who has worked on children's programming for Disney and Nickelodeon has created his own "silly dilly" versions of beloved childhood tunes. Kids will rejoice in the hilarious, "I'm Filthy, I'm Dirty," sung to the tune of "It's Raining, It's Pouring," and parents have songs to celebrate, too: "Go Go Go to Bed" is a clever remake of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." With the possible exception of the lesser-known "Polly, Put the Kettle On," most children will be familiar with the original versions of these songs, which will make it easy for them to join right in. Catrow's animated double-spread pictures are at least as silly as the song lyrics, offering action-filled scenes bursting with odd-looking creatures. For an easy enrichment activity, have kids create a silly-dilly adaptation of their own.

Review of Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, by Alan Katz. Publisher's Weekly, April 16, 2001.
Songwriter and television comedy writer Katz provides ludicrous lyrics to 14 traditional tunes, offering playful parodies on some familiar routines. To the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a boy wearing roller skates claims he has been soaking so long in the tub that he "used one, two, three bars of soap/ Take me out... I'm clean!" Other amusing entries include "I've Been Cleaning Up My Bedroom" (sung to "I've Been Working on the Railroad"), in which a girl tidies her room by shoving all of her belongings "out the door," which Catrow (She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!) interprets quite literally (he shows her bureau, goldfish, etc., piling up in the back yard), and "Give Me a Break" (sung to the tune of "Home on the Range"), introducing a child whose library book is long overdue. A few songs do not scan so well (e.g., this verse set to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean": "My brother flicks peas with his fork and/ They zip down my shirt with a splat/ Next I see a big piece of pork land/ On my head like it's a new hat!"). But the subjects (a sibling with a stinky diaper, a youngster who refuses to go to bed, a cranky poodle think "Yankee Doodle") teamed with Catrow's outlandish illustrations, as hyperbolic as the words, will have kids giggling as they sing.