It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Captain Underpants!

“It’ll make kids laugh until soda comes out of their noses.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The 9th book in the Captain Underpants series, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers, came out on August 28. The series is written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey, whom USA Today calls "the savior of the reluctant reader." Pilkey's other popular series are Super Diaper Baby, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, and The Dumb Bunnies.

I can personally attest to the popularity of this series. Like a lot of boys, my son was not all that interested in drawing and coloring as a preschooler or even throughout first grade. He is an avid reader though, and as he progressed through picture books and on to chapter books in second grade, he discovered Dav Pilkey's funny potty humor books about two elementary school boys, George and Harold, who create an unlikely superhero out of their principal when they hypnotize him. What interests him most is the book within the book—the comic book that George and Harold write and draw and sell to their friends on the playground for fifty cents a copy. His attempts at writing and illustrating his own books has fueled an ongoing interest in arts and crafts I never thought I'd see. Last year we co-authored a book (more like a pamphlet, really) on the very, very short history of Thanksgiving in America. Inspiration is indeed found in the unlikeliest of places.