Today was my daughter’s first day of preschool. The day was thankfully stress free, except for a heated run-in between the teacher and a four-year-old boy who refused to stop saying the word “poo” during snacktime. Who was this boy? Odds are he’s a future reader of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants, and his snacktime behavior is a shining example of why parents love to hate these books.
So, who is this Captain Underpants? The protagonists of the series are George and Harold, two fourth graders who are obsessed with all things grimy and gross. They created the comic superhero Captain Underpants by hypnotizing their principal who then whisks around in a red cape and a pair of tightie whities and battles such worthy foes as Dr. Diaper and Professor Poppypants while also “defending truth, justice and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony”.
This is an extremely popular illustrated ‘chapter book’ series. How do does one quantify “extremely popular”? Try six million copies popular. The series is so big that it ranks right under their Scholastic label mates the Harry Potter series. But as popular as they are with the kids, they are just as unpopular with many of the parents, leading to many schools and parental units looking for ways to ban them. The American Library Association’s list of the 10 most challenged books from 2000 to 2005 has the Captain Underpants series clocking in at number nine. Not up there with Harry Potter but still managing to rank in on the top ten.
So, Why would Captain Underpants be banned? “For offensive language and modeling bad behavior.” Sure, the kids in the book are basically good kids, but they do have a thing for silliness and pranks. As for the offensive language, it’s more from the “fart”, “snot”, and “booger” school. As one eight-year-old states “the books are awesome, cool and inappropriate.” But parents mostly agree with the “inappropriate” description. Many folks, okay, most, believe that “bathroom talk” is something to be avoided, but these books, they blatantly celebrate it.
An elementary school in Connecticut banned the books because school officials thought that it was causing mischief and mayhem in their fourth-graders. One reason the kids love it is because they know it will meet with their parents and teacher disapproval. The rebel spirit is alive and well in these for sure. And as for “bathroom talk”, I have yet to hear a little boy who didn’t relish in those words. But this way, at least he’s reading them.
