Scholastic Trade Catalog

SEE LARGER

Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (Captain Underpants #8)

Series: Captain Underpants

by Dav Pilkey, Illustrated By Dav Pilkey

The Blue Sky Press
September 2006

Fiction

Ages 7 – 18 . Grades 2 – 12

Library of Congress: 2006923848

Lexile measure: 850L

DRA: 40

Guided Reading: R

ARQuiz

When we last saw George and Harold, they were about to take their pet pterodactyl Crackers back to the Cretaceous period. But things didn't work out quite as they had hoped. They've entered an absurd alternate reality where teachers are nice, kids are allowed to read banned books, and the cafeteria food doesn't smell like dirty diapers. Even worse, they've discovered alternate versions of themselves--Evil George and Evil Harold--who plan to unleash some preposterous plans on Piqua, Ohio. Now it's up to George and Harold to defeat the evil twins and THEIR superhero, Captain Blunderpants!

Dav Pilkey

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 The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future and Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, both USA Today bestsellers. 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.

SELECT REVIEWS:

SLJ
Gr 2-5–In their eighth epic adventure, George and Harold use the Purple Potty to travel to an alternate universe where teachers care, the library has books, and kids eat at a five-star gourmet cafeteria. Unfortunately they also encounter Evil George and Evil Harold, who transform good Mr. Krupp into Captain Blunderpants. The evil duo also steal the boys' pets, Crackers and Sulu, and hitch a ride back to George and Harold's world. They might destroy that world with Evil Sulu, “the world's biggest baddest bionic hamster,” but are thwarted by the arthritic avengers Boxer Boy and Great-Granny Girdle and their geezer power. Part novel, part comic book, and part Flip-o-rama™ (add your own sound effects), this newest adventure will not disappoint the legions of Captain Underpants fans. The cartoon pictures almost tell the story, making it a boon for struggling readers. Maybe kids, like Pilkey, will be inspired to write their own comics, invent their own superheroes, poke fun at the absurdities they see, and not worry about a few (in Pilkey's case, deliberately) misspelled words. Libraries with the previous books will want to add this one.–Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

TODO - RELATED RESOURCES

Subjects: