Dav Pilkey Book Quotations

My books are just pure escapism for kids.

My freshman English professor at Kent State University in 1984 told me I was a good writer, and she loved all the silly pictures I drew in my notebook. She said I should try writing children's books, and so I did.

I think my funny books are my favorites because I like to laugh so much.

My goal with The Adventures of Captain Underpants was to invent a style which was almost identical to that of a picture book - in a novel format. So I wrote incredibly short chapters and tried to fill each page with more pictures than words. I wanted to create a book that kids who don't like to read would want to read.

Having a sense of fun in books is a huge, huge deal, because a lot of times kids - even me when I got to third or fourth grade - don't associate reading with fun.

It used to take me forever to read and comprehend stuff, so I decided not to make the Captain Underpants books too challenging. Dont get me wrong - the humor and ideas are often sophisticated - but the books arent hard to read. I wanted kids who hate reading to find these books irresistible.

A book without potty humor is like a banana split without hot fudge. It can still be good, I suppose, but you kinda get the feeling that something is missing.

I created 'Captain Underpants' when I was in the second grade. I was constantly getting in trouble for being the class clown, so my teacher sent me out into the hallway to punish me. It was there in the hall that I began drawing 'Captain Underpants'. Soon I was making my own comic books about him.

These 'mistakes' occur in my books for a reason. I have an agenda: I'm secretly trying to inspire kids to create their own stories and comics, and I don't want them to feel stifled by 'perfectionism.'

Nothing prevents boredom like a good book.

It was there in the hall that I began drawing Captain Underpants, ... Soon I was making my own comic books about him.