Dav Pilkey
Dav Pilkey
David Murray "Dav" Pilkey, Jr. is an American author and illustrator of children's literature. Pilkey is the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He also uses the pen names George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are the names of two of the main characters in the aforementioned series...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth4 March 1966
CityCleveland, OH
CountryUnited States of America
It was there in the hall that I began drawing Captain Underpants, ... Soon I was making my own comic books about him.
I created 'Captain Underpants' when I was in the second grade. I was constantly getting in trouble for being the class clown, so my teacher sent me out into the hallway to punish me. It was there in the hall that I began drawing 'Captain Underpants'. Soon I was making my own comic books about him.
These 'mistakes' occur in my books for a reason. I have an agenda: I'm secretly trying to inspire kids to create their own stories and comics, and I don't want them to feel stifled by 'perfectionism.'
My books are just pure escapism for kids.
I think my funny books are my favorites because I like to laugh so much.
My goal with The Adventures of Captain Underpants was to invent a style which was almost identical to that of a picture book - in a novel format. So I wrote incredibly short chapters and tried to fill each page with more pictures than words. I wanted to create a book that kids who don't like to read would want to read.
Having a sense of fun in books is a huge, huge deal, because a lot of times kids - even me when I got to third or fourth grade - don't associate reading with fun.
It used to take me forever to read and comprehend stuff, so I decided not to make the Captain Underpants books too challenging. Dont get me wrong - the humor and ideas are often sophisticated - but the books arent hard to read. I wanted kids who hate reading to find these books irresistible.
A book without potty humor is like a banana split without hot fudge. It can still be good, I suppose, but you kinda get the feeling that something is missing.
Nothing prevents boredom like a good book.
The show was really funny and charming, ... And I loved how it seemed like it was just thrown together at the last minute.
I thought it was the coolest thing on TV,
I guess I'm the only guy in the world who would listen to those incredibly offensive songs and think, 'Hey, that guy should be making music for kids,' ... But that's what I thought.
Being an author is fun. It's a great job, because I can stay up as late as I want, and if I feel like taking the day off, I do it. Plus, I get to make up silly stories and draw pictures all day.