Few things command disrespect like the sight of a man wearing whitie-tighties. However, the bald and barefoot Captain Underpants happens to be a superhero. As one character notes, "Most superheroes look like they're flying around in their underwear....Well, this guy actually is flying around in his underwear!" The Captain, defender of "Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony," is the comic-book invention of two troublemaking fourth-graders, George and Harold. He comes to life after the boys use a mail-order device to hypnotize their diabolical school principal, who sheds his outergarments and battles crime in only a cape and Y-fronts. As his creators try to snap him out of the trance, Captain Underpants threatens bank robbers with "Wedgie Power" and foils the villainous Dr. Diaper (" `You know,' said George, `up until now this story was almost believable' "). Pilkey (Dog Breath) uses a sitcom-like formula to set up the rivalry between the boys and the principal, and to strip the authority figure of dignity. After a tepid exposition, he falls back on the notion that undies and mild bathroom humor are funny in themselves and, given his intended audience, he's probably right. Line drawings of the slapstick action appear on every page, and "Flip-O-Rama" climactic sequences create an agreeably corny "motion-picture" effect. But the lowbrow jokes (the Captain uses an elastic waistband to apprehend an evildoer) chiefly constitute this tale's harmless, non-gross appeal. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
n honor of this glorious celebration of our freedom to read what we want, let’s pause for a sec and remember there are people out there still trying to take this freedom away for dumb reasons like not wanting their kids to read the word “nipple.”
It’s Banned Books Week, everyone! So go to your library and hug the printed word, embrace thought-provoking prose, enjoy that which others have said you shouldn’t, and lovingly caress your copy of…Where’s Waldo? When you think of banned books, a few controversial classics come to mind: Lolita, for example, or provocative new fiction like Fifty Shades of Grey. […]
Everyone loves a good banned book, right? Lit lovers (unfairly) don’t have much of a badass reputation, so reading something banned lets us feel just a little bit more rebellious. You might be surprised, though, at what exactly has been deemed too scandalous by censors, especially in the case of YA lit. Sure, everyone knows […]
Summertime should be filled with water-balloon fights, sleepovers, piles of books, and squeals of laughter. So we’ve rounded up some books sure to make your kids giggle all summer long. Just make sure they’re not drinking any soda when they read these. That stuff burns coming out the wrong way: Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald […]
This week, the American Library Association announced its annual list of “challenged books.” The report is meant to offer insight on the literature that might inspire an otherwise perfectly adjusted youth to forget to tie his shoes, or eat an unhealthy lunch, or . . . set an entire school on fire. Something like that!