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Parents' Guide to

The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Captain Underpants, Book 1

By Stephany Aulenback, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Gross potty humor, funny pranks will hook reluctant readers.

Book Dav Pilkey Humor 1997
The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Captain Underpants, Book 1 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 22 parent reviews

K W.
K W. Adult
April 5, 2017
age 9+

And we wonder why this generation lacks respect

the main characters are terribly disrespectful to the adults. and the reader is made to laugh at this behavior. for new readers this book is filled with poor sentences. this book is popular just as candy is more popular than veggies. so sure give them tons of candy because that is easier.
J T.
J T. Parent of 6-year-old
September 17, 2023
age 10+

Excessively violent, not for pre-teen children

These books are visually stimulating and interesting to your children. Unfortunately the storyline consists of a fantastic amount of graphic violence. The story promotes violence, bullying, prank playing and blackmail. The solutions to all of these issues according to this book is more violence. This is a terrible guide to a developing child, for those that are looking for a way to get your child interested in reading there are many graphic novels and storybooks that are visually stimulating and do not condone and endorse violence. It's the format that attracts the child, not the story. The book does have some witty, political and social commentary, all of which is way above the head of the target demographic for this book.
See all 22 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Two fourth grade pranksters, George and Harold, use hypnosis to trick their principal into thinking he's a crime-fighting hero in THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS. But Captain Underpants breaks loose and wreaks havoc, the police chasing after him as he (and George and Harold) encounter killer robots and a diabolical Dr. Diaper who wants to destroy the world. Dav Pilkey's energetic illustrations create a comic book feel, as pictures enrich the text and often contain their own jokes. One whole chapter, for example, is a visual pun on "graphic violence." In another, readers use Pilkey's fun "Flip-O-Rama" technique to animate a cartoon battle by flipping pages back and forth.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (22 ):
Kids say (40 ):

While no one would mistake this for fine literature, playful and engaging artwork by writer-illustrator Pilkey just might hook a reluctant reader. But The Adventures of Captain Underpants is full of borderline mean jokes, puns, bathroom humor, and disrespectful behavior, so if you or your kids can't stand the thought of using a piece of "fake doggy doo-doo" to fight a diaper-wearing mad scientist, then this book isn't for them.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about different senses of humor. Some might find the jokes in The Adventures of Captain Underpants inappropriate for younger kids. What do you think? What makes a joke appropriate or not?

  • This book is part of a series of other titles. Now that you've read the first one, do you want to read more? What makes them fun to read? Is it the silly writing or the artwork, or both?

  • The plot hinges on taking revenge on someone who made George and Harold's lives miserable. Does this give the boys the right to hypnotize someone into clucking like a chicken and stripping down to their underwear for laughs? If not, what's a better response to an authority figure who's abusing their power?

Book Details

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