CANR
WORK TITLE: Big Jim Begins
WORK NOTES:
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://pilkey.com/
CITY:
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: LRC 2017
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
First name is pronounced “Dave”; born David Murray Pilkey, Jr., March 4, 1966, in Cleveland, OH; son of David Murray (a sales manager) and Barbara (an organist) Pilkey; married 2005; wife’s name Sayuri.
EDUCATION:Kent State University, A.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Freelance writer and illustrator, 1986—.
AWARDS:Caldecott Honor Book, American Library Association, 1997, for The Paperboy; Milner Award for children’s literature, 2016.
WRITINGS
Contributor to graphic-novel anthologies, including Comics Squad: Recess!, edited by Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, and Jarret J. Krosoczka, Random House (New York, NY), 2014.
The “Dumb Bunnies” books were adapted into an animated cartoon series for CBS television; the “Captain Underpants” books were adapted into a motion picture, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, directed by David Soren and released by DreamWorks Animation, 2017; the “Captain Underpants” books also inspired the television series The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, 2018-19, and multiple television specials; Dog Man, an animated movie based on the series and cowritten by Pilkey, was directed by Peter Hastings and released by Dreamworks Animation, 2025.
SIDELIGHTS
An author and illustrator of picture books, fiction, and nonfiction, Dav Pilkey is a versatile and prolific creator of books for children from preschool through the middle grades. Considered one of the most popular contemporary authors for readers in elementary school, he is also regarded as a talented artist and inventive humorist as well as a subtle moralist. Pilkey favors broad parodies and farces based on art, literature, and popular culture, and his books target everything from monster movies, super-hero comic books, and modern art to science fiction and classic folk tales. Sometimes to the chagrin of parents, he relishes the same lowbrow humor that appeals to his readers, and his stories include toilet jokes and plots that revolve around such subjects as the effects of dog breath and a school principal who, hypnotized into thinking he is a super hero, runs around in his underwear. A versatile writer, Pilkey is also the creator of sensitive, evocative mood pieces, and he underscores his works—even at their most outrageous—with a philosophy that emphasizes friendship, tolerance, and generosity and celebrates the triumph of the good-hearted. Featuring both human and animal characters, Pilkey characteristically depicts sweet but sometimes dim protagonists who are misunderstood but end up on top, as well as genuinely silly creatures who remain blithely unaffected by the stupid things they do.
Pilkey is perhaps best known for his “Captain Underpants,” “Dumb Bunnies,” “Big Dog and Little Dog,” and “Dragon” book series. Geared for middle graders, the “Captain Underpants” stories describe how two mischievous fourth-graders—creators, like the young Pilkey, of their own comic books—use a 3-D Hypno-Ring to turn their mean principal into their own creation: the bumbling but valiant crusader Captain Underpants. The “Dumb Bunnies” books—published by Pilkey under the name Sue Denim, a play on the word “pseudonym”—depicts a family of roly-poly, bucktoothed rabbits who do everything backwards, while the “Dragon” books, containing simple stories directed to beginning readers, feature a childlike blue dragon whose innocent, well-meaning nature leads him into humorous situations. The “Big Dog and Little Dog” series is composed of board books for very young children that feature two canine friends whose playfulness gets them into scrapes.
As a literary stylist, Pilkey favors straightforward but lively narratives that are filled with wordplay, especially puns, and jokes; some of his books are even written in verse. As an illustrator, his style range from campy cartoons in bold, fluorescent colors to sumptuous, detailed paintings in muted tones. Pilkey works in a variety of mediums, including watercolor, colored pencil, acrylics, magic markers, collage, and, according to the artist, Hamburger Helper and Dijon mustard. Most of his art is light-hearted and reflects the humor of his books, although several of his illustrations are darker and more mystical and surreal. As with his texts, Pilkey’s illustrations are full of allusions and include take-offs on well-known paintings by such artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, James McNeil Whistler, Grant Wood, and Edward Hopper as well as echoing the styles of Picasso, Rousseau, Miro, and Chagall, among others. While Pilkey’s illustrations are often thought to outshine his texts, he is also praised as a writer who understands what appeals to children. Writing in the New York Times Book Review, James Howe wrote: “If it’s been a while since you’ve heard a 5-year-old chortle, you owe it to yourself to think of Dav Pilkey when gift giving time rolls around.”
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a steel salesman and a church organist, Pilkey recalled his early life in commentary on his home page, Dav Pilkey’s Extra-Crunch Web Site o’ Fun: “I don’t remember much about my early childhood, except that I was almost always happy. My parents tell me that I used to laugh in my sleep all the time, even as an infant. When I wasn’t laughing, I kept myself busy by drawing. When the other kids in the neighborhood were outside playing baseball and football, I was inside drawing animals, monsters, and super-hero guys. Life was pretty cool when I was little … and then school started.” “I was never very good at following the rules,” Pilkey further admitted to CA. “My elementary years were spent in a strict parochial school where everyone was expected to be solemn, self-controlled, and obedient. Naturally, I was the class clown. I quickly became well-versed in the art of spitball shooting, paper airplane throwing, and rude noise-making. In first grade I held the classroom record for the number of crayons I could stick up my nose at one time (six).” After setting another school record—for the amount of time spent in the principal’s office—Pilkey was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and severe hyperactivity (ADHD).
By second grade, Pilkey was spending so much time standing outside class in the hallway that his teacher moved a desk there just for him, and it remained in use for the next three years. “I was the only kid in the whole school with my own personal desk out in the hall, and I made good use of it,” he recalled to CA. Keeping the desk well stocked with pencils, paper, magic markers, and crayons, Pilkey spent his detention time immersed in drawing, with the result that “I became an artist.”
Art was not the only skill Pilkey developed during his chronic hallway detentions. In an interview with Sally Lodge in Publishers Weekly, he stated, “I’d draw pictures to relieve my boredom. Then I began making comic books, since they seemed to make my stories come alive.” He stapled together sheets of paper to make his own books, which he filled with the adventures of a group of superheroes; one of these creations was Captain Underpants, who was destined to make an appearance in later years. As Pilkey once recalled in CA, “These comic books were a real hit with my classmates, but not with my teachers. I remember one teacher who, after furiously ripping up one of my stories, told me I’d better start taking life more seriously, because I couldn’t spend the rest of my days making silly books. Lucky for me, I wasn’t a very good listener either.”
After graduating from grade school, Pilkey attended a strict high school where his sense of humor continued to be unappreciated by his teachers. He wrote on his home page, “One day my principal took me out of class and said to me, ‘I know you think you’re special because you can draw, but let me tell you something: artists are a dime-a-dozen. You will never make a living as an artist!’ Those words haunted me for many years. How delightful it was to prove him wrong.”
In his senior year in high school, a life-altering event occurred that resulted in the loss of the last letter of Pilkey’s first name. As he recalled on his home page: “I was a waiter at Pizza Hut. One day they were making a name tag for me, but the label-maker was broken. Instead of printing ‘Dave’, it printed ‘Dav’. The name stuck!” It was thus, as Dav Pilkey, that he entered Kent State University as an art major in the fall of 1984. There his freshman English teacher complimented his creative writing skills and encouraged him to write books. Thinking that this was an idea with some merit, Pilkey created a children’s book titled World War Won, and entered it in the “National Written and Illustrated By …” contest, a competition for students that was sponsored by Landmark Editions of Kansas City, Missouri. The winner of the contest was to have his or her book published. World War Won was awarded the grand prize and, at age nineteen, Pilkey became a published author. “It was the most exciting time in my life,” he recalled on his home page.
A picture book written in verse, World War Won describes how the leaders of two animal kingdoms, fighting for power, stockpile weapons to use against each other. The result of their stockpiling is a “nuclear freeze” in which both piles of weapons are sprayed with water and then left at Icicle Springs, which is always frozen. “The moral, of course,” according to School Library Journal contributor Susan Scheps, “is that peace comes only through understanding and cooperation.” Scheps added that Pilkey’s full-page colored-pencil cartoons “are of professional caliber” and that World War Won “provides a model for other hopeful young authors.”
After the publication of his first book, Pilkey began to research the genre of children’s literature more thoroughly. As he explained to CA, “When I really got serious about writing children’s books, I began reading everything I could by my favorite writers, Arnold Lobel, Cynthia Rylant, James Marshall, and Harry Allard. I read Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, George and Martha, and The Stupids over and over again, until I started to pick up rhythms and recognize patterns. Soon I began to see what really worked in these books—what made them great pieces of literature.”
“Dragon” Series
In 1991, Pilkey produced the first of his “Dragon” books: A Friend for Dragon and Dragon Gets By. In A Friend for Dragon the gentle creature is tricked by a snake into believing that an apple is his friend, and when a hungry walrus eats the apple, Dragon is crushed. However, in the spot where he buries the apple’s remains, a tree grows up, bearing a crop of new “friends” for Dragon. In Dragon Gets By Dragon spends a day doing everything wrong: he reads an egg, then fries the morning paper before watering his bed and going to sleep on his plants. In subsequent volumes of the series, Dragon celebrates Halloween and Christmas in his own inimitable way and adopts a stray cat, learning by trial and error how to take care of it. Assessing A Friend for Dragon and Dragon Gets By, a critic in Publishers Weekly stated, “With his excellent vocabulary choices and crafty characterizations … Pilkey has created a positively precious prehistoric prototype.” Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan, reviewing Dragon’s Fat Cat: Dragon’s Fourth Tale, noted that “the Dragon series is fast moving toward that pantheon of children’s reading reserved for books that make kids laugh out loud. … Again and again, Pilkey delivers.” In a review of Dragon’s Halloween: Dragon’s Fifth Tale, a critic for Publishers Weekly concluded that “Bright blue Dragon never disappoints; Pilkey’s series hero is affability incarnate.”
“Dumb Bunnies” Series
In 1994 Pilkey launched his “Dumb Bunnies” series under the nom de plume Sue Denim. An homage to Harry Allard and James Marshall, the creators of the “Stupids” books, the series features a family of clueless bunnies whose adventures are depicted in deadpan text and brightly colored cartoons. Pilkey parodies “The Three Bears” and “Little Red Riding Hood” in the first volume of the series, The Dumb Bunnies, as Little Red Goldilocks wreaks havoc until Baby Bunny flushes her down the toilet. Subsequent volumes continue the escapades of the loopy lapins, who confuse holiday customs in The Dumb Bunnies’ Easter, visit the beach during a storm in Make Way for Dumb Bunnies, and cause a riot when they let the animals out of their cages in The Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo. In his review of The Dumb Bunnies for the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Roger Sutton called Pilkey’s floppy-eared heroes “the Stupids in pink fur.” Mary Harris Veeder, writing in Booklist, noted of The Dumb Bunnies’ Easter that “The Bunny family is a worthy successor to those all-time favorites the Stupids. … This is dumbness supreme and a real treat.”
Mega-popular with young readers, The Dumb Bunnies was adapted as an animated series on CBS television in the late 1990s. At around the same time, Pilkey introduced a new series, the “Silly Gooses,” which is akin to the “Dumb Bunnies” in its depiction of anthropomorphic animals that engage in backwards behavior. The books feature Mr. and Mrs. Goose and their goslings Ketchup and Mustard, named after their parents’ favorite ice cream toppings.
In addition to creating his books, Pilkey spends time visiting schools in order to talk to children, and in his first presentations he explained how he found his calling while sitting in the hallway of his elementary school. As the author recalled to Publishers Weekly, “Inevitably, the name ‘Captain Underpants’ would come up, and though I cracked jokes throughout my presentation, the mention of this name would get by far the biggest laugh. And whenever I mentioned the title of one of my early Captain Underpants comic books, which involved talking toilets, the room would explode with laughter. That’s when I knew I had to do a book about him.”
“Captain Underpants” Series
The Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel introduces two misbehaving fourth graders at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School who write their own comic books: introverted Harold Hutchins and extroverted George Beard, whom Pilkey described in Publishers Weekly as “kind of like the yin and yang of my personality.” The boys’ nemesis is crabby principal Mr. Krupp, and after they hypnotize him with a 3-D Hypno-Ring, the principal is transformed into one of the boys’ comic-book creations, Captain Underpants, whenever he hears fingers snapped. Clad only in his tighty whities and a cape and carrying a roll of toilet paper, Captain Underpants stands for “Truth, Justice, and ALL that is Preshrunk and Cottony.” The scantily clad crime fighter tackles criminals such as bank robbers and robot thieves by giving them wedgies, and even confronts a mad scientist, the evil Dr. Diaper, who is intent on controlling the world. Distracting the doctor with doggy-doo, the boys and Captain Underpants save the planet; Harold and George then de-hypnotize their principal and hustle him back into his street clothes.
Pilkey illustrates The Adventures of Captain Underpants with black-and-white cartoons, and even animates a chapter by means of what he calls “Flip-o-Rama,” a device by which readers can flip the pages back and forth for an animation effect. Writing in Booklist, Stephanie Zvirin noted that while the silliness “goes overboard … and the many action-packed illustrations rob the plot of some of its zip by commanding more than their share of attention,” nonetheless, Pilkey’s “humor is on target for some kids in this age group.” A critic in Kirkus Reviews added, “There’ll be no silence in the library once readers get hold of this somewhat classier alternative to Barf-o-Rama.”
The “Captain Underpants” saga continues with Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets. Drawing from the comic books he created as a youngster, Pilkey relates how George and Harold use the science project of school brain Melvin, a copying machine that changes images into matter, to reproduce their latest comic book. Inadvertently, the boys set loose an army of teacher-eating toilets led by the evil Turbo Toilet 2000. Captain Underpants—with the aid of Wedgie Power and his Incredible Robo-Plunger—saves the school, and George and Harold get to become principals for a day. In Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space the two boys fool the cafeteria staff into baking cupcakes that flood Jerome Horwitz Elementary School with goo. After the staff quits, Principal Krupp mistakenly hires an alien trio to take their place. When the aliens begin turning the students into zombie nerds, Harold, George, and Captain Underpants are called into action and end up saving the world from an alien invasion. Reviewing Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets, Booklist critic John Peters wrote that the book is “destined to be as popular as the first book,” while a reviewer in Horn Book called it “part graphic novel, part tongue-in-cheek parody, … very hip and funny.”
In Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants the boys invoke the wrath of Professor Pippy P. Poopypants, a scientific genius who gets no respect because of his name. When chaos ensues, Captain Underpants dons his undies once again. The retirement of a despised teacher is pivotal in Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman, which finds Miss Ribble annoyed by George and Harold’s uncharitable portrait of her in a comic book. Sent to Krupp’s office, the boys orchestrate a pretend protestation of love from Krupp, angering the retiring teacher even more, until it is clear that Ribble must be calmed by a 3-D Hypno-Ring treatment. The two-part epic Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy finds school smartypants Melvin accidentally transforming himself into a giant Bionic Booger Boy who produces robo-boogers in part one: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets. Although the robo-booger threat is eliminated in part two, The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers, it returns in the midst of a power shift that renders Captain Underpants useless while a school toilet is transformed into a time machine. Despite the complicated plot, School Library Journal reviewer JoAnn Jonas called The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers “witty, fun, and full of adventure.”
Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000: The Eleventh Epic Novel offers the usual Pilkey mix: villains, puns, inventive plot interludes, and lots of laughter. This time, George and Harold battle the Turbo Toilet 2000—a returning villain from earlier in the series. “youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode,” remarked a Kirkus Reviews contributor. In Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot: The Twelfth Epic Novel, George and Harold and their copies (Yesterday George and Yesterday Harold) play pranks and generally goof off. However, their hijinks are interrupted by a new supervillain—formerly Mr. Meaner, the gym teacher. Once again, Pilkey offers a dizzying array of plot lines and witticisms, as the boys work to save the world from disaster. Booklist critic Shelle Rosenfeld commented that “the insane popularity of Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series hasn’t ebbed with time.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor concurred, calling the book “another epic outing in a graphic hybrid series that continues not just to push the envelope, but tear it to shreds.”
Praising the “Captain Underpants” series as a whole, Tim Wadham wrote in School Library Journal that it is “one of the best series to get reluctant readers reading.” In the same periodical, Marlene Gawron noted that “the fun” of Pilkey’s books “is in the reading, which is full of puns, rhymes, and nonsense along with enough revenge and wish fulfillment for every downtrodden fun-seeking kid who never wanted to read a book.” Adding that the cartoon drawings and Flip-o-Rama pages make the work “so appealing that youngsters won’t notice that their vocabulary is stretching,” Gawron concluded: “Hooray for Captain Underpants!” Explaining the appeal of the books in Time, Pilkey said: “I think kids feel trapped just by being kids. You can’t do anything when you’re a kid. Adults are always trying to spoil your fun. … I think kids are drawn to these books because … George and Harold … get away with so much. They’re always having great adventures, and the adults can’t stop them. It’s great escapism.” Interestingly, although the “Captain Underpants” books are written primarily for boys, Pilkey has received an equal amount of fan mail from middle-grade girls.
“Super Diaper Baby” and “Dog Man” Series
As a spin-off of the “Captain Underpants” books, Pilkey penned The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the first volume of a series that follows a new creation by the imaginative duo. Punished with a writing assignment in which Captain Underpants may not appear, George and Harold spin a new tale about a baby that, doused in super power juice shortly after birth, begins his crime-fighting career by wadding up a villain in toilet paper. Presented as the work of the middle-schoolers themselves, The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby is “preposterously good-humored,” according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, while in School Library Journal Piper L. Nyman dubbed it “another goofy, gross-out selection from a popular author.” Words of caution came from a Kirkus Reviews writer: “Adults will want to use this book as birdcage liner, and young readers with elementary senses of humor will revel in the … silliness.” The second installment in the series, Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, sees the evil Dr. Dilbert Dinkle threatens the town by taking everyone’s toilets. However, he is thwarted by Super Diaper Baby and his dog. Writing in School Library Journal, Travis Jonker notes that “there are moments in this book that might leave adults in utter shock” but admits that the gross-out humor is the reason for the book’s appeal to young readers.
In 2016 Pilkey launched yet another “Captain Underpants” spin-off series, this one known as the “Dog Man” series. The title character is a policeman who has the head of a dog and the body of a man, created when a bomb explodes and juxtaposes the body parts of a nearby policeman and dog. The character was first mentioned in The Adventures of Captain Underpants and later reappeared in Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers: The Ninth Epic Novel. In an interview with Karen Springen in Publishers Weekly, Pilkey noted: “By the ninth book, he was a character showing up in George and Harold’s comic. My fan mail started to change. Usually kids would draw Captain Underpants. Starting with book number nine, they were all drawing Dog Man. That was one of the reasons why I decided to break out and start a new series about Dog Man.” In the first installment in the series, titled simply Dog Man, readers meet the title character: part-dog, part-man, and unconcerned with rules and regulations. For instance, Dog Man annoys the police chief by giving him sloppy dog kisses. However, danger appears in the form of Petey the cat, a super-villain, who plots all manner of evil—including a fearsome army of hot dogs—before being thwarted by Dog Man. A Publishers Weekly contributor called the book “terrifically funny” and remarked that “readers (of any age) will be giggling from start to finish.” Likewise, Jesse Karp, reviewing the novel in Booklist, commented that Pilkey “has again fired an arrow of joy straight at the fevered childhood psyche of millions of readers.”
In the second installment, Dog Man Unleased, the world’s most unusual policeman inadvertently finds trouble while shopping for a birthday present for his boss, the police chief. Attempting to purchase a pet fish, Dog Man instead ends up with an evil fish intent on world domination. Petey the cat makes a return appearance, this time accidentally bringing a dinosaur skeleton to life. Booklist critic Sarah Hunter noted that “The frenetic plot … will have magnetic appeal for kids.” Similarly, Mahnaz Dar, writing in School Library Journal, praised the book as “entertainingly zany.”
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The series continued with a number of other graphic novels, including Lord of the Fleas and The Scarlet Shredder. Big Jim Begins is a prequel that portrays Big Jim’s origin story. The character is a purple cat who has ended up in jail, but when he was a baby, a UFO sent a note that Big Jim was a chosen one destined to fulfill prophecies. The graphic novel shows how he and Grampa helped stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. A writer in Kirkus Reviews wrote that this book is “full of laffs and food for thought, in equal measure.”
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“Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot” Series
Pilkey is also the creator of book series with roots in science Fiction, the Ricky Ricotta’s Giant Robot series, later revised and published under the title Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot.. In the first installment, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, a lonely little mouse befriends a giant robot who takes on the school bullies, rescues the city from an evil rat scientist, and saves the world from an invasion of massive mosquitoes from Mercury. The series continues with titles that suggest a host of ridiculous plot conflicts: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. the Jurassic Jackrabbits from Jupiter, and Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. the Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn. In typical Pilkey form, the last-named volume finds mouse and robot forced to defend the planet from a scourge of stinky litterbugs who, led by Sergeant Stinkbug, plan to trash the planet for good. Noting the book’s appeal to reluctant readers, Elaine E. Knight noted in School Library Journal that Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. the Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn contains a “short, easy-reading text [that] is highlighted by Pilkey’s off-the-wall, deadpan humor.”
Pilkey’s Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder was a top 10 bestseller in 2024.
“Big Dog and Little Dog” Series
With his “Big Dog and Little Dog” series, Pilkey also takes the silliness down a notch, this time focusing his attention on the toddler set. Using minimal text and large illustrations printed on thick cardboard, he introduces two devoted canine companions who go for walks, play in puddles, and snuggle together while demonstrating both the sweet and more fun-loving sides of their personalities. The sixth volume of the series, Big Dog and Little Dog Making a Mistake, describes what happens when the duo mistake a skunk for a kitten and then disrupt a party. Writing in School Library Journal, Maura Bresnahan predicted that babies and toddlers will find “the colorful illustrations appealing but the humor will be better appreciated by older children.” The critic added that the simple sentence structure and repetitive text “makes this board book ideal for those just learning to read.”
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"Cat Kid Comic Club" Series
Pilkey launched a new graphic novel spin-off series in 2020 with Cat Kid Comic Club. Cat Kid, the sidekick in the “Dog Man” series, takes center stage in the “Cat Kid Comic Club” series. Cat Kid, also known as Li’l Petey, is the president of the comic club, the vice-president is a tadpole named Molly, and twenty other baby frogs form the club. Helping out is a fish named Flippy, as Flippy and Li’l Petey help the younger club members learn how to make a comic. The series’ opening installment features Petey and Molly trying to help the tadpoles get over their fear of failure by offering a prize for “Worst Comic.” The graphic novel features a series of stories within the larger story.
“Supa fun,” wrote a reviewer in Kirkus Reviews. They wrote that “Pilkey effectively mixes instruction and empowerment into the chaos.” The result is “immensely enjoyable.” A reviewer in Publishers Weekly was even more enthusiastic, calling the series starter “irreverent, laugh-out-loud funny and–gosh darn it–downright moving.” The writer described the graphic novel as a “heartfelt celebration of coming into one’s own as an artist.” Pilkey followed up with several more graphic novels in the series, including Perspectives, On Purpose, and Influencers.
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Other Writings and Illustrated Books
In addition to his humorous books, Pilkey has written and illustrated several picture books that showcase the full range of his talents as an illustrator and present young readers with more serious and meditative subjects. One book of this type, The Paperboy, was named a Caldecott Medal Honor Book for its illustrations in 1997. A young African-American boy, accompanied by his dog, rises before dawn on a Saturday morning to deliver his papers; after finishing their job, the pair go back to bed and dream about flying across the night sky. According to School Library Journal reviewer Wendy Lukehart, Pilkey “paints their shared experience with a graceful economy of language”; the critic concluded by calling The Paperboy a “totally satisfying story.” Pilkey illustrates his book with acrylic paintings that, according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist, “include beautifully composed landscapes and interiors.”
In addition to the books he has written and illustrated, Pilkey has provided the pictures for Don’t Pop Your Cork on Mondays! The Children’s Anti-Stress Book, a nonfiction handbook for children on the causes and effects of childhood stress by psychologist Adolph J. Moser; The Place Where Nobody Stopped, a folktale-like story by Jerry Segal about how a young Jewish man and his family change the life of a lonely Russian baker when they come to stay with him; and Julius, a humorous picture book by Angela Johnson that features an Alaskan pig who lives with an African-American family. Pilkey received special notice for his paintings for this last book, multimedia collages composed using fabrics and instant coffee as well as more traditional mediums. Writing in Horn Book, Ellen Fader noted that Pilkey’s pictures “constitute an evolution from his more modest efforts,” while Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books reviewer Betsy Hearne concluded that the artist’s paintings “are a major factor in the hilarity. He translates a keen sense of the ridiculous into vivacious hues and wildly varied patterns without ever getting cluttered.”
Pilkey once observed to CA: “One of my biggest inspirations as an illustrator is the drawings of children. Children often send me pictures that they’ve drawn, and I’m always amazed at the way they present shape and color. Children are natural impressionists. They’re not afraid to make their trees purple and yellow, and it’s okay if the sky is green with red stripes. … When children are drawing, anything goes! Of course, you know that one day an art teacher is going to grab hold of these kids and turn them all into accountants, but while they are still fresh and naive, children can create some of the freshest and most beautiful art there is.” He added on his home page, “When I was a kid making silly books out in the hall, I never dreamed that one day I’d be making silly books for a living. The coolest thing is that I used to get in trouble for being the class clown … and now it’s my job.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Children’s Literature Review, Volume 48, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998, pp. 99-114.
Pilkey, Dav, The Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1997.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 1992, Carolyn Phelan, review of Dragon’s Fat Cat: Dragon’s Fourth Tale, p. 1029; February 1, 1995, Mary Harris Veeder, review of The Dumb Bunnies’ Easter, p. 1009; March 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Paperboy, p. 1179; October 1, 1996, p. 1406; July 19, 1997, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel, p. 1819; May 1, 1999, John Peters, review of Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets: Another Epic Novel; September 15, 2010, Kat Kan, review of review of The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, p. 57; September 15, 2011, Todd Morning, review of Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, p. 54; September 1, 2012, Andrew Medlar, review of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers: The Ninth Epic Novel, p. 120; February 1, 2013, Daniel Kraus, review of Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers: The Tenth Epic Novel, p. 63; April 15, 2014, Sarah Hunter, review of Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, p. 55; August 1, 2014, Annie Miller, review of Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000: The Eleventh Epic Novel, p. 71; July 1, 2015, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot: The Twelfth Epic Novel, p. 68; August 1, 2016, Jesse Karp, review of Dog Man, p. 54; January 1, 2017, Sarah Hunter, review of Dog Man Unleashed, p. 57.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May, 1993, Betsy Hearne, review of Julius, p. 284; January, 1994, Roger Sutton, review of The Dumb Bunnies, p. 150; April, 1998, p. 292.
Horn Book, March-April, 1993, Ellen Fader, review of Julius, pp. 196-197; July-August, 1996, Mary M. Burns, review of The Paperboy, p. 453.
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1997, review of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, p. 678; December 15, 1997, p. 72; February 1, 2002, review of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, p. 187; July 15, 2012, review of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers; January 1, 2013, review of Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers; March 15, 2014, review of Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot; June 15, 2014, review of Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000; June 15, 2015, review of Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot; June 15, 2016, review of Dog Man; June 15, 2017, review of Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties; August 1, 2018, review of Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas; December 1, 2020, review of Cat Kid Comic Club; January 1, 2022, review of Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives; May 15, 2022, review of Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose; May 1, 2023, review of Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas under the Sea; February 1, 2024, review of Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers; May 1, 2024, review of Dog Man: The Scarlet Shredder; February 1, 2025, review of Dog Man: Big Jim Begins.
New York Times Book Review, November 8, 1992, James Howe, “Perchance to Dream,” p. 57.
Publishers Weekly, December 21, 1990, review of A Friend for Dragon and Dragon Gets By, p. 56; September 20, 1993, review of Dragon’s Halloween, p. 30; October 14, 1996, p. 82; February 22, 1999, Sally Lodge, “Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants Wins a Starring Role,” p. 32; January 28, 2002, review of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, p. 291; September 15, 2003, review of Dragon’s Halloween, p. 67; September 29, 2003, review of Kat Kong, p. 66; July 16, 2012, review of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers; August 25, 2016, Karen Springen, author interview; December 2, 2016, review of Dog Man, p. 89; December 2, 2020, review of Cat Kid Comic Club, p. 78.
School Library Journal, March, 1988, Susan Scheps, review of World War Won, p. 174; March, 1996, Wendy Lukehart, review of The Paperboy, pp. 180-181; June, 1999, Maura Bresnahan, review of Big Dog and Little Dog Make a Mistake, p. 109, and Marlene Gawron, review of Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets, p. 136; October, 2001, Tim Wadham, review of Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman, p. 129; April, 2002, Elaine E. Knight, review of Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot v. the Mecha-Monkeys from Mars, p. 120; June, 2002, Piper L. Nyman, review of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, p. 108; January, 2004, Elaine E. Knight, review of Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. the Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn, p. 104; January, 2004, Kristina Aaronson, review of Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, p. 103; February, 2004, JoAnn Jonas, review of Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, p. 121; June, 2005, Jackie Parich, review of Dav Pilkey’s Extra-Crunchy Web site o’ Fun, p. 67; November, 2010, Travis Jonker, review of The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, p. 145; January, 2012, Travis Jonker, review of Super Diaper Baby 2, p. 145; October, 2012, Elizabeth Swistock, review of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers, p. 104; September, 2015, Paula Huddy, review of Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot, p. 81; July, 2016, Lisa Gieskes, review of Dog Man Unleashed, p. 63; January, 2017, Dar Mahnaz, review of Dog Man Unleashed, p. 81.
Time, August 27, 2001, “A Hero in Briefs: The Zany Author of the Captain Underpants Books Has Written a New One, and Tries to Explain Their Appeal,” p. F18.
ONLINE
Dav Pilkey website, http://www.pilkey.com (May 14, 2025).
Fairfield Mirror, http://www.fairfieldmirror.com/ (October 26, 2016), Cara Lee, author interview.
Guardian Online (London, England), http://www.theguardian.com/ (August 31, 2015), Dav Pilkey, “What It’s Like to Top Banned Book Lists around the World.”
Omnivoracious, http://www. omnivoracious.com/ (September 20, 2016), Siera Wilson, “Dav Pilkey on ‘Dog Man,’ Mind-Blowing Graphic Novels, and More,” author interview.
Scholastic, https://www.scholastic.com/ (May 14, 2025), “How to Help Reluctant Readers Love Books: Advice From Dav Pilkey,” author blog.
Sci-Fi Pulse, http://www.scifipulse.net/ (December 27, 2016), Patrick Hayes, review of Dog Man Unleashed.
When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. He 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, so he spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books—the very first adventures of Dog Man and Captain Underpants.
Since then, Dav has written and illustrated a number of bestselling and award-winning children’s books, including the Caldecott Honor book The Paperboy. His Captain Underpants series and Dog Man graphic novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages.
Dav lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, but his writing is inspired by children and adults around the world. His stories explore universally positive themes that celebrate the triumph of the good-hearted.
Dav Pilkey
USA flag (b.1966)
Dav Pilkey has written and illustrated numerous popular, award-winning books for children, including the Captain Underpants and Dumb Bunnies series; Dog Breath, winner of the California Young Reader Medal; and The paperboy, a Caldecott Honor Book. He lives with his wife in the Pacific Northwest. In 1996, Dav moved to Seattle, Washington. He then took a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, WA where he has lived since 1999. He divides his time between Bainbridge Island, WA and Minami Izu, Japan.
Genres: Children's Fiction
Series
Dragon's Tales
1. A Friend for Dragon (1991)
2. Dragon's Fat Cat (1992)
3. Dragon Gets By (1991)
4. Dragon's Halloween (1993)
5. Dragon's Merry Christmas (1991)
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Captain Underpants
1. The Adventures of Captain Underpants (1997)
2. The Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999)
3. The Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (1997)
4. The Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000)
5. The Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2001)
6. The Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 1 (2002)
7. The Big Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 2 (2002)
8. The Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006)
9. The Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (2012)
10. The Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-boxers (2013)
11. The Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 (2014)
12. The Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot (2015)
Official Handbook (2017)
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Big Dog and Little Dog
Big Dog and Little Dog (1997)
Big Dog and Little Dog Going for a Walk (1997)
Big Dog and Little Dog Getting in Trouble (1997)
Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters (1998)
Big Dog and Little Dog Making a Mistake (1999)
The Complete Adventures of Big Dog and Little Dog (2003)
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Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot
1. Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (2000)
2. Vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury (2000)
3. Vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus (2001)
4. Vs. the Mecha-Monkeys from Mars (2002)
5. Vs. the Jurassic Jack Rabbits from Jupiter (2002)
6. Vs Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn (2002)
7. Vs. the Uranium Unicorns from Uranus (2005)
8. Vs. the Naughty Nightcrawlers from Neptune (2016)
9. Vs. The Unpleasant Penguins from Pluto (2016)
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Captain Underpants Non Fiction
The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book O' Fun (2001)
All New Captain Underpants Extra Crunchy Book O'Fun 2 (2002)
The Extra Big 'N' Extra Crunchy Captain Underpants Book O' Fun (2011)
Captain Underpants Super Flip-O-Rama Sticker Book (2013)
The Captain Underpants Annual 2016 (2015)
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Dog Man
1. Dog Man (2016)
2. Dog Man Unleashed (2016)
3. A Tale of Two Kitties (2017)
4. Dog Man and Cat Kid (2017)
5. Lord of the Fleas (2018)
6. Brawl of the Wild (2018)
7. For Whom the Ball Rolls (2019)
8. Fetch-22 (2019)
9. Grime and Punishment (2020)
10. Mothering Heights (2021)
11. Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea (2023)
12. The Scarlet Shedder (2024)
13. Big Jim Begins (2024)
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Cat Kid Comic Club
1. Cat Kid Comic Club (2020)
2. Perspectives (2021)
3. On Purpose (2022)
4. Collaborations (2022)
5. Influencers (2023)
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Collections
Silly Stories to Tickle Your Funny Bone (2000) (with William Joyce and James Marshall)
I Love to Read! (2002) (with others)
Dumb Bunnies Collection (2007)
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Picture Books hide
World War Won (1987)
Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving (1990)
When Cats Dream (1992)
Kat Kong (1993)
The Place Where Nobody Stopped (1994) (with Jerry Segal)
Twas The Night Before Christmas (1994)
Dog Breath (1994)
The Moonglow Roll-A-Rama (1995)
The Paperboy (1996)
Julius (1998) (with Angela Johnson)
The Silly Gooses (1998)
Dogzilla (1999)
God Bless the Gargoyles (1999)
The Hallo-Wiener (1999)
Merry Christmas, Dear Dragon (1999)
Make Way for the Dumb Bunnies (2004)
The Dumb Bunnies (2005)
The Dumb Bunnies' Easter (2008)
The Dumb Bunnies Go To The Zoo (2009)
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Graphic Novels hide
The Adventures of Ook and Gluk (2010) (with George Beard and Harold Hutchins)
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Omnibus editions hide
Dog Man: The Supa Epic Collection (2019)
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 hall every day. Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books.
In the second grade, Dav Pilkey made a comic book about a superhero named Captain Underpants. Since then, he has been creating books that explore universally positive themes celebrating the triumph of the good-hearted.
Sunday Morning
Pete Davidson and Dav Pilkey on "Dog Man"
sunday-morning
By Rita Braver
January 26, 2025 / 10:17 AM EST / CBS News
It's hard to believe, but as author and Illustrator Dav Pilkey recently told students at Boy's Prep in the Bronx, he created Dog Man back when he was in second grade. "He looks a little bit different," he said.
The kids loved hearing when someone with learning disabilities ("I had ADHD, and I was dyslexic, and I was the class clown, and I couldn't sit still," he said) could go on to be so successful.
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The evolution of Dav Pilkey's character, Dog Man - part man, part dog.
CBS News
Every book in Pilkey's Dog Man series has been the bestselling children's book for the year it came out.
And as the new film out next week reminds us, it all started when a police officer and his dog got into a bad accident – and doctors sewed the head of the dog onto the man's body, creating … Dog Man!
And while he's part man, he's all dog. "Oh, yeah, yeah. The man part doesn't really come out that much," Pilkey said.
But in addition to all the fun, Pilkey tries to layer meaning into the Dog Man books, even in their titles, from "The Scarlet Shedder" and "Fetch-22," to "Lord of the Fleas," and "A Tale of Two Kitties." "I was looking at Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities,' which is such a wonderful book. It talks about sacrifice, self-sacrifice, and the value of that."
"And you hope that children will be moved to read these classics?" I asked.
"I hope so, yeah," Pilkey replied. "I hope they don't think 'Oh, that Charles Dickens stole an idea from Dav Pilkey.' That wouldn't be so good!"
dog-man-series.jpg
There have been 13 books in the "Dog Man" series, with more adventures on the way.
CBS News
Pilkey's sense of humor is what made director Peter Hastings want to make the "Dog Man" movie. He also directed a TV series based on Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" books. "I just love his sensibility, the playful anarchy of his work," Hastings said.
Comedian Pete Davidson gets top billing in the film: "I'm a huge Dav Pilkey fan," he said. "I grew up reading all the 'Captain Underpants' books. My mom got them for me. All the young kids in my family, they all read 'Dog Man,' they're obsessed with 'Dog Man.' And then right around the time I started noticing that, we got the offer."
It was an offer to play Dog Man's nemesis, Petey the Cat. Davidson said it was fun to play the villain: "It's a really fun, loud, layered character," he said. "I don't get a lot of opportunities to stretch like that."
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Comedian Pete Davison and director Peter Hastings discuss the new animated film "Dog Man."
CBS News
In fact, as readers of the "Dog Man" books know, things start to change when Petey tries to clone himself, and instead creates … an adorable kitten!
"His character has a great arc in the story," said Hastings.
"It's the best arc I've ever been given" Davidson laughed. "Usually I'm in a movie for, like, nine minutes, and then shot in the face, so it was nice to have a full [arc]!"
Asked if it's hard for someone else to control his characters, Pilkey said, "No, no. Not at all actually. I'm just so honored that they wanted to do something with my characters, so I was like, YESSS!!! Jumping up and down."
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Author-illustrator Dav Pilkey meets some Dog Man fans.
CBS News
But Pilkey says what really matters to him is seeing how much kids appreciate all the work he puts into his books.
Asked whether he ever worries about running out of ideas, he said, "No, I think I worry about running out of time to get all of my ideas down on paper!"
How to Help Reluctant Readers Love Books: Advice From Dav Pilkey
How did a man who hated reading as a kid grow up to be a famous author? We interviewed author Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants and Dog Man, to find out.
By Andrea Barbalich
Ages
3-13
How to Help Reluctant Readers Love Books: Advice From Dav Pilkey
Dav Pilkey hated reading when he was growing up. In fact, he was a poor student, and his teachers considered him so disruptive in elementary school that he was banished to a desk
in the hallway. But luckily he put his time in exile to good use: That’s where the Cleveland, Ohio, native created a book about the adventures of a superhero named The Amazing Captain Underpants. A couple of decades and nine bestsellers later, the author/illustrator spoke to Scholastic about getting kids like him excited about books.
You had reading difficulties as a kid. How much impact does that have on your work now?
It has everything to do with what I write about now, as well as how I illustrate my books. I hated to read because I learned at a different pace than my classmates. I’ll never forget how humiliating it was to have to get up in front of the class and read aloud. The other kids would groan when it was my turn to stand and stumble my way through a paragraph. I felt like a failure, especially since none of the other kids seemed to have a hard time with reading.
I designed the Captain Underpants books so they would appeal to all kids — but especially to kids who learn differently. I think it’s important for kids to have a positive experience with a book as soon as possible. That’s why my books have short chapters and funny pictures. The comic books and action scenes (Flip-O-Ramas) take up at least 25 percent of each book. Kids who are frustrated by reading find that they can breeze through them. And they laugh, too! For some kids, it might be the first time they realized that a book can be fun. That might be all they need to get them going on the road to literacy.
There’s even the bonus that they’re not just books — they’re novels. It says so right on the front cover! Imagine the feeling of accomplishment at having read your first “epic novel” at a very young age. It’s empowering.
What do you think kids love most in your books?
The pranks, the comics, and the mild naughtiness — but I also think they respond deeply to the empowerment fantasy. Kids typically don’t have a whole lot of power: They can’t vote or drive, and they’re supervised by grown-ups most of the time. They like to immerse themselves in books where kids are in charge.
What advice do you have for parents of reluctant readers?
Let them read what they want, even if it’s comic books or teen magazines. Try to avoid the temptation of steering them toward more substantial literature. The goal is to make sure they connect reading with fun.
How did you get to be so funny?
My sense of humor was cultivated through a steady diet of Mad and Cracked, newspaper comics, Wacky Packages stickers, and joke books. They inspired me.
If you could be any superhero, which would it be?
Underdog, from the 1960s cartoon show. He’s funny and powerful. Plus, he’s got the greatest theme song ever!
Pilkey, Dav A TALE OF TWO KITTIES Graphix/Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $9.99 8, 29 ISBN: 978-0-545-93521-0
Humbug! Not only has feline supergenius Petey escaped from prison, but an evil psychokinetic fish is raising up an army of animate apartment buildings. What the dickens is Dog Man to do?Fictive co-authors George and Harold dish up another heap of "mirth and woe" for their dog-headed police officer--featuring, to no Pilkey fan's surprise, slapdash plotting, sly jokes, alimentary humor, and Flip-O-Rama sequences aplenty. Actually, in a major twist, Petey the cat takes center stage thanks to Li'l Petey. This is a mini-me clone who refuses to be evil even when presented with a "supa-robot" 80-Hexotron Droidformigon wielding "80-HD Power" and who transforms Petey from supervillain to self-sacrificing parent, intoning "It is a far, far better thing I do..." in the climactic clash. Said clash is inevitable after tiny but powerful Flippy sets out for revenge with a tank of "Living Spray Gas" that converts buildings to hungry monsters capable of eating (and, it turns out, ralphing up) anything in their path. But L'il Petey saves both day and the thoroughly diverse human cast by winning over the furious fish with a homemade picture book and, with his jailbird dad (temporarily) back behind bars, ends up Dog Man's cherished ward. Step-by-step instructions for drawing major characters and monsters, plus a tail-wagging plug for reading to canine audiences, cap a sequel that ably fulfills the 2015 opener's great expectations. Only chuzzlewits will be less than delighted. (Graphic science fiction. 7-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pilkey, Dav: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495428072/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9c63fe52. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav LORD OF THE FLEAS Graphix/Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $16.99 8, 28 ISBN: 978-1-338-29091-2
Confession proves good for the soul of Petey, "world's most evilest cat," when past misdeeds rear up to threaten him and his saintly clone, L'il Petey.
Adding in a free-wheeling mix of literary references, moral disquisitions, and stupid knock-knock jokes, Pilkey once again has superheroes and kaiju mix it up in squared-off panels of simply drawn, action-oriented cartoons. Here, the arrival of a giant robot brontosaurus driven by the vengeful Fuzzy Little Evil Animal Squad--"We're not crooks! We're megalomaniacs!"--pitches Petey and his annoyingly peace-loving mini-me into a rolling fight/flight. Naturally, "Supa Buddies" Dog Man (as "The Bark Knight"), robotic sidekick 80-HD, and, to diversify the otherwise all-animal cast, some previously introduced human regulars, dive into the fracas, and Flip-O-Rama sequences ensue. The FLEAS receive proper comeuppance (comedownance?) thanks to a handy shrink ray, and then it's time for a dose of wisdom in the form of a dialogue between Petey and Li'l Petey: "If you're good, nobody cares!!!" "Ya gotta be good anyway, Papa!" "If you're kind, people just think you're weak!" "Ya gotta be kind anyway, Papa!" Following a promise of more such "maturishness and deepality" to come, the author closes with his customary drawing lessons, plus plugs for the benefits of reading aloud to pets.
Actually, along with laffs aplenty, a fair quantity of "maturishness and deepality" for biguns and littluns alike. (source notes) (Graphic science fiction. 7-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pilkey, Dav: LORD OF THE FLEAS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A548138105/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b2a66929. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav CAT KID COMIC CLUB Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $24.99 12, 1 ISBN: 978-1-338-71277-3
Crime takes a back seat to craft in Cat Kid’s series debut.
Cat Kid, aka Li’l Petey, steps out of his Dog Man sidekick role as president of the titular comic club, with psychokinetic tadpole Molly as vice-president, her 21 baby-frog siblings as members, and their dad, Flippy the fish, as anxious arbiter of literary excellence. Readers new to the Pilkeyverse will be won over by its genial looniness as Li’l Petey works valiantly to teach his club members how to make comics. When Melvin’s first effort, Dennis the Toothbrush Who Wanted To Be a Dinosaur Lawyer, is judged “dumb” (it is a tad thin on plot), Li’l Petey and Molly encourage all the froglets to get over their fears by failing utterly: “Worst comic gets a prize!” yells Molly. Flippy wrings his bionic claws at the results, pronouncing them “violent,” “disgusting,” and “offensive”; The Cute, Little Fluffy Cloud of Death has Flippy calling in the medical authorities. Fortunately, Nurse Lady talks some sense into him (“Look at Shakespeare: It’s all DEATH and VIOLENCE and FART JOKES!...Take a chill pill, dude”), and the club continues, producing a legal drama, a startlingly beautiful sequence of nature photos and haiku, and sneak peeks at a buddy story, a biography, an apocalyptic thriller, and a superhero adventure. Few are “wholesome,” but all are believably childlike. Pilkey effectively mixes instruction and empowerment into the chaos, the frenetic panels (with Garibaldi contributing colors) making both immensely enjoyable.
Supa fun. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pilkey, Dav: CAT KID COMIC CLUB." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643410861/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e1a8ecef. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Cat Kid Comic Club
Dav Pilkey. Graphix, $12.99 (176pj ISBN 978-1-338-71276-6
Dog Man sidekick Li'l Petey and tadpole Molly are running a weeklong comics workshop for 21 quarrelsome froggies while the frogs' father, bionic fish Flippy, tries to enforce decorum. (Flippy admonishes the kids, "There is NOTHING funny about POO-POO!!!"--to which they reply only with laughter.) As the froggies wrestle and eventually conquer their stymied or fearful imaginations, readers are treated to the wonderful variety of their work through brief mini-comics, from pencil drawings reminiscent of the Captain Underpants series to photocomics made with broken, hybridized action figures, all with classic Pilkey titles such as Supa Fail and The Cute, Little, Fluffy Cloud of Death. Amid this riotous creativity (awards are given for the craziest, grossest and "Most Violentest" comic), there's a lesson for Flippy, too: "be more chill," and don't play thought police. As wise Nurse Lady reminds him, "Look at Shakespeare: It's all death and violence and fart jokes!" Irreverent, laugh-out-loud funny and--gosh darn it--downright moving, it's a heartfelt celebration of coming into one's own as an artist, with all its frustrations and joys. Ages 7--up.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 PWxyz, LLC
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"Cat Kid Comic Club." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 49, 2 Dec. 2020, p. 78. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A646895893/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d1587c5b. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav PERSPECTIVES Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $12.99 11, 30 ISBN: 978-1-338-78485-5
Li'l Petey and the young frogs of the Cat Kid Comic Club return for a second session that intersperses classroom and family drama with the froglets' own comics.
This week's lesson is perspective, both the graphical kind and the broad concept. The latter is perhaps best articulated by the froglets' dad, Flippy, as he adjudicates Melvin and Naomi's sibling bickering: "PERSPECTIVE isn't just about DRAWING!!! It's about seeing the world from someone ELSE'S point of view!!!" Indeed, lessons in perspective abound: Curly and Gilbert's Time Wasters comic reveals the Great Chicago Fire to have been a crashing bore to time-traveling frog-kids who spent it playing video games; Poppy's Skelopup gently shows how a dead dog and a dead girl, both grieving the losses of their former companions, find comfort over time through sharing their feelings with one another; and Summer and Starla's Shodo Gardens readjusts assumptions with a series of haiku paired with photographs. Melvin and Naomi's journey to d�tente, which forms the volume's narrative throughline, includes an examination of unearned male privilege. Sharing coloring duties with Garibaldi, Pilkey deftly applies his trademark sly mix of revelation and in-your-face zaniness in busy, froglet-filled panels that take advantage of the anthology format to showcase comics' versatility.
Mind-bending, in the best possible way. (notes and fun facts) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
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"Pilkey, Dav: PERSPECTIVES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688199806/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5f0205ab. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav ON PURPOSE Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $12.99 4, 5 ISBN: 978-1-338-80194-1
The Cat Kid Comic Club reconvenes!
When last readers saw them, Melvin and Naomi had just submitted Naomi's comic to "that publisher lady"; the action here picks up 10 minutes later as the little frogs endure the agony of waiting for a response. Fortunately, the club's next meeting gives them the opportunity to share Naomi's opus, The Under Werewolves, a metrically flawless celebration of the universality of underwear. Alas, "that publisher lady" rejects it, writing, "The idea that everyone is the same fails to take into account how people are treated differently in the world." Chagrined, Naomi gives up on comics (but not her determination to make it rich) and apologizes to two siblings she's afraid she may have hurt with her story's gender assumptions. Agent Melvin, on the other hand, submits two other sibling-created comics; maybe there's an ice cream machine in the little frogs' future after all. The drama is breathlessly reported by Dog Man regular Sarah Hatoff, who presents White (cameraman Roscoe has brown skin). Here exploring the concept of purpose, Pilkey lets characters and readers ponder its complexity--with butt jokes keeping the tone light. While its theme is not as clearly developed as the previous volume's, this episode nevertheless presents the series' now-trademark winning mix of sibling hijinks and club members' comics, rendered in a variety of styles.
The next meeting can't come soon enough. (notes) (Graphic fiction. 7-11)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pilkey, Dav: ON PURPOSE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A703413885/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=de5a8219. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav TWENTY THOUSAND FLEAS UNDER THE SEA Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $14.99 3, 28 ISBN: 978-1-338-80191-0
When Dog Man accompanies Chief and Nurse Lady on a date, it kicks off a series of events that find the doughty hero deep in the evil Piggy's sweat gland facing off against a microscopic parasitic mite.
The plot of Pilkey's latest adventure featuring his canine-human hybrid cop is characteristically Rube Goldberg-ian, with such cheerfully bizarre twists as the rupturing of the mini-jail containing Piggy when a dog named Mister Stinkles picks it up and drops it. That Mister Stinkles is being walked by the dog-hostile restaurateur who tried to refuse service to Dog Man a few pages earlier is just one of this outing's many delights. The fleas of the title are actually the Fuzzy Little Evil Animal Squad, but only one of them--the aforementioned Piggy--can be called evil. Indeed, his henchcreatures are so amiable that they've joined the Friendly Friends with Daryl the moth, much to Piggy's disgust. Threading through the silliness are some serious themes, and readers who peer past the madcap antics will find critiques of the carceral system and the social media feedback loop of fear and anger. Fueled by loud, frenetic colors (courtesy of Garibaldi and Dzioba), this adventure's got something for just about everyone, including a heartwarming conclusion. Chief presents Black; most other human characters present White.
Supa satisfying. (cast of characters, drawing tips, notes & fun facts) (Graphic adventure. 8-12)
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"Pilkey, Dav: TWENTY THOUSAND FLEAS UNDER THE SEA." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A747342124/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d70a4321. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav INFLUENCERS Scholastic (Children's None) $24.98 11, 28 ISBN: 9781338896503
The members of the Cat Kid Comic Club learn how to win friends and influence people.
The story opens with the shocking news that "the Cat Kid Comic Club is no more." It will surprise none of the club's loyal readers to learn that "weeks of bitter fights" among the club's membership of 22 baby frog siblings have led their exasperated father, Flippy the fish, to dissolve the club as punishment. That hasn't stopped the fighting, though, so Flippy reaches for Dale Carnegie's self-help classic and gifts it to drama queen Naomi, telling her, "You're a very smart kid but your people skills could use some work!" As in previous volumes, Pilkey proffers a deceptively chaotic, devilishly clever exploration of his theme, here the power of influence, and presents the tricky concepts with profound respect for his audience. While Naomi experiments with compliments and gifts to achieve her ends, the froglets share some of their comics, including "I Am Dr. Frederic Wertham," an entry in their series Irritating People Ruin the World, which is a parody of the Brad Meltzer-Christopher Eliopoulos series Ordinary People Change the World. This comic introduces readers to Wertham, the comic book-hating author of Seduction of the Innocent. A "Chubbs McSpiderbutt" comic presents the notion that "our viewpoints influence our experience," and the first drawing lesson after Flippy's inevitable restoration of the club unpacks the psychology of cuteness in making us "Feel the Feels!!!"
Controlled hilarity makes the concepts go down easy--another winner. (notes, fun facts) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
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"Pilkey, Dav: INFLUENCERS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A780840904/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=655c9694. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav THE SCARLET SHEDDER Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $14.99 3, 19 ISBN: 9781338896435
Dog Man takes on AI in his latest adventure. Guess who wins.
Since AI is built on predictive models, it hasn't got a chance in the Pilkeyverse. The story gleefully whipsaws readers from Chief and Nurse Lady's nuptials (not an eye will be dry after Li'l Petey and Molly's rendition of the traditional wedding theme) to Dog Man's encounter with a skunk (his subsequent tomato-juice bath turns him red, leading to his new Supa Buddy incarnation as the Scarlet Shedder) to Dog Man's imprisonment for the crime of "moral turpitude" to Dr. Scum's evil plot to "crush the world" with an army of AI robots to Petey's poignant flashbacks to his childhood experience with homelessness. Add in some truly inspired Flip-O-Rama sequences and many terrible jokes, and it's clear that Pilkey's in top form here. In between gales of helpless laughter, readers will engage with serious themes. The author leverages the silliness to explore the algorithm's dark side with the AI robots' plot to "distract, divide, [and] dominate" humanity, using stratagems readers may well recognize from real life. Hilariously, the robots' dialogue is rendered in a pixelated typeface straight from 1980s computing, undermining their boasts that they're "SMARTER / FASTER / and STRONGER than" humans. A concluding page of thoughtful notes provides some additional context (and defines turpitude). Human characters are racially diverse; Dr. Scum is a sickly green.
Wise foolishness from the master. (dramatis personae) (Graphic adventure. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pilkey, Dav: THE SCARLET SHEDDER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A791876764/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=30956097. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Pilkey, Dav BIG JIM BEGINS Graphix/Scholastic (Children's None) $24.99 12, 3 ISBN: 9781338896497
An endearing new character joins the Pilkeyverse.
Big Jim is a large, cheerful purple cat. He shares a cell in Cat Jail with the irascible Grampa, greeting every new day with a song, much to his cellmate's annoyance. By night, Big Jim "fight[s] forLiberty andCupcakes" as Commander Cupcake. Every superhero needs an origin story, and Big Jim's is this: When he was a baby, a UFO dropped a note declaring Big Jim a chosen one, who would grow up to "fulfill SUPA ANCIENT prophecies." (Readers will note that Grampa's origin story reveals some gaps in Big Jim's.) After deputizing Grampa as sidekick Sprinkles, Big Jim leads them out the Cupcake Exit to "save the world" (Big Jim) and "get out of jail" (Grampa). Mayhem ensues, involving a band of evil Space Cuties From Space and Dog Man in his Scarlet Shedder persona. Punctuated by flashbacks filling out Big Jim's story and Flip-O-Ramas aplenty, and referencing both Mr. Rogers and Monty Python, this outing is characterized by both Pilkey's trademark frantic pace and his gentle philosophizing. Big Jim's life hasn't been an easy one, which gives his sunny outlook resonance. Even at the story's close, it "has more loose ends than a spaghetti dinner," as Grampa complains. Fortunately, a sequel beckons. Human characters display a range of skin tones.
Full of laffs and food for thought, in equal measure. (cast of characters, notes, drawing tips)(Graphic fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
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MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Pilkey, Dav: BIG JIM BEGINS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A825128455/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c47615f6. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.