Wikipedia

Dav Pilkey

David Murray"Dav"Pilkey Jr.(/deɪv/;born March 4, 1966)[1]is an American comic book writer of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book seriesCaptain Underpantsand its spin-off children'sgraphic novelseriesDog Man,the latter published under the respective writer and illustratorpen namesofGeorge BeardandHarold Hutchins,which are also the names of the two protagonists of theCaptain Underpantsseries.

Dav Pilkey
Pilkey at a book event in 2018
Pilkey at a book event in 2018
BornDavid Murray Pilkey Jr.
(1966-03-04)March 4, 1966(age 58)
Cleveland, Ohio,U.S.
Pen nameDan Pilkey
George Beard
Harold Hutchins
Sue Denim
Occupation
  • Comic book writer
Years active1987–present
Notable worksDragonseries
Captain Underpantsseries
Dog Manseries
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robotseries
Dumb Bunniesseries
Spouse
Sayuri Pilkey
​
(m.2005)​
Signature
Website
pilkey.com
Dav Pilkey's voice
Pilkey talking about his childhood experiences, recorded 2019

Life and career

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Pilkey in 2019

Pilkey was born inCleveland, Ohio,on March 4, 1966, to the Reverend David Pilkey, Sr. and Barbara, who was the church organist.[2][3]He has one older sister. Pilkey was brought up in a conservativeChristianhousehold and went toChristian schoolsthroughout his life.

Pilkey was diagnosed withattention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) anddyslexiaas a child.[4]In elementary school inNorth Ridgeville, Ohio,Pilkey was frequently reprimanded for his behavior in class and thus usually sat at a desk in the school hallway, where he created theCaptain Underpantscharacter.[5]In 1987, Pilkey wrote his first book,World War Won,an allegorical fable inspired by thenuclear arms racebetween the United States and theSoviet Union,in anational competition for student authorsand won in his age category. The book's publication in 1987 was included in the award.[2]

The atypical spelling of his first name came when the "e" in "Dave" was left off his name tag while working atPizza Hut.[6]

Pilkey graduated fromKent State University.[7]He married Sayuri Pilkey in 2005.[8]

The Adventures of Super Diaper Babywas published in 2002 and was Pilkey's first full complete graphic novel. It appeared at No. 6 on theUSA Todaybestseller list for all books, both adult and children's, and was also aNew York Timesbestselling book for Children's Middle Grade. The firstSuper Diaper Babygraphic novel was published with Scholastic years before Scholastic created the Graphix imprint.[9]

Pilkey took a break from writing for a few years to care for his terminally ill father (who died on November 13, 2008), but in 2009 agreed with Scholastic to publish four new books.[10][11]The first two aregraphic novels:The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future,released on August 10, 2010; andSuper Diaper Baby 2: Invasion of the Potty Snatchers,released on June 28, 2011.Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrouserswas released on August 28, 2012,Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxerswas released on January 15, 2013,Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000was released on August 26, 2014, andCaptain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lotwas released on August 25, 2015. Additionally, thirteenDog Mannovels have been published since August 30, 2016.

Pilkey and his wife live onBainbridge Island,Washington.

On March 25, 2021, Dav Pilkey announced on his YouTube channel that he and Scholastic would cease further publication of the bookThe Adventures of Ook and Gluk,and would remove it from retailers and libraries due to some characters in the book being stereotypes. Pilkey stated that he intended to showcase diversity, equality, and non-violent conflict resolution. He also stated that even unintentional and passive stereotypes are harmful to everyone. Pilkey will donate his entire advance, past, and future royalties from the book to organizations promoting diversity that are designed to stop violence against Asians.[12][13][14]

Publications

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Dragonseries

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  • Dragon Gets By(1991)
  • A Friend For Dragon(1991)
  • Dragon's Merry Christmas(1991)
  • Dragon's Fat Cat(1992)
  • Dragon's Halloween(1993)

The Dragon series was originally published with Orchard Books. Scholastic then reprinted the series in 2019. Dav Pilkey used watercolors purchased at a local grocery store to paint the illustrations in these books. The series became astop-motion animation TV showwith 78 episodes from 2004 to 2007.

Dumb Bunnies

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  • The Dumb Bunnies(1994)
  • The Dumb Bunnies' Easter(1995)
  • Make Way for Dumb Bunnies(1996)
  • The Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo(1997)

Pilkey authored The Dumb Bunnies series using the pseudonym, Sue Denim.

Captain Underpants

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Main article:Captain Underpants

Captain Underpantsspin-offs

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Pilkey authored the Super Diaper Baby books and Ook and Gluk under the pseudonyms of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, who are two of the main characters in the Captain Underpants series. In that series, George and Harold write and illustrate comic books together respectively and these are claimed in-story to be some of the comics they produced.[16]

Dog Man

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Main article:Dog Man

Dog Manis also aspin-offofCaptain Underpants,similarly said to be written and illustrated by George Beard and Harold Hutchins.

  • Dog Man(August 30, 2016)[17]
  • Dog Man: Unleashed(December 27, 2016)
  • Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties(August 29, 2017)[18]
  • Dog Man and Cat Kid(December 26, 2017)
  • Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas(August 28, 2018)
  • Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild(December 24, 2018)
  • Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls(August 13, 2019)
  • Dog Man: Fetch-22(December 10, 2019)
  • Dog Man: Grime and Punishment(September 1, 2020)
  • Dog Man: Mothering Heights(March 23, 2021)
  • Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under The Sea(March 28, 2023)
  • Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder(March 19, 2024)
  • Dog Man: Big Jim Begins(December 3, 2024)

Cat Kid Comic Club

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  • Cat Kid Comic Club(December 1, 2020)
  • Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives(November 30, 2021)
  • Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose(April 12, 2022)
  • Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations(November 29, 2022)
  • Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers(November 28, 2023)
  • “cat kid 6

Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot

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Main article:Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (series)

Big Dog & Little Dog

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  • 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(1999)

Other books

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  • World War Won(1987)
  • Don't Pop Your Cork on Mondays(1988) Illustrator only
  • 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving(1990)
  • The Place Nobody Stopped(1991) Illustrator only
  • Julius(1993)
  • Kat Kong(1993)
  • Dogzilla(1993)
  • Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis(1994)
  • The Moonglow Roll-O-Rama(1995)
  • The Hallo-Wiener(1995)
  • When Cats Dream(1996)
  • God Bless the Gargoyles(1996)
  • The Paperboy(1996)
  • The Silly Gooses(1998)
  • Comics Squad: Recess!(2014) contributor as author/illustrator for this anthology
  • Guys Read: Terrifying Tales(2015) contributor as author/illustrator for this anthology[19]
  • One Today(2015) illustrator only[20]

Awards

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  • 1986: The National Written and Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students, ages 14–19 category,World War Won[21]
  • 1997: Caldecott Honor Award,The Paperboy[22]
  • 1998: California Young Reader Medal,Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis,published in 1994
  • 2007: Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, TheCaptain Underpantsseries
  • 2016: Milner Award, The favorite children's book author,http://themilneraward.org/
  • 2019: Person of the Year Award from Publishers Weekly
  • 2019: Comic Industry Person of the Year

References

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  1. ^Pilkey.comArchivedFebruary 4, 2008, at theWayback Machine
  2. ^ab"Dav Pilkey".Ohio Authors Online.Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. 2003. Archived fromthe originalon September 28, 2007.RetrievedAugust 8,2007.
  3. ^"5 things you may not know about 'Captain Underpants' author Dav Pilkey".TODAY.com.June 6, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 1,2021.
  4. ^"Writer Dav Pilkey says having dyslexia was a blessing".The Straits Times.RetrievedFebruary 29,2020.
  5. ^Nissen, Beth (July 11, 2000)."Captain Underpants: The straight poop on a grossly entertaining series of children's books".CNN.Archived fromthe originalon July 30, 2003.RetrievedAugust 8,2007.
  6. ^"Super Humor: Tales of an 'Under' Achiever".The Washington Post.July 3, 2002. p. C18.ProQuest409295767.
  7. ^"Meet Dav."Dav Pilkey Official Website. April 17, 2003. Retrieved on August 14, 2019.
  8. ^"The Almost Completely True Adventures of Dav Pilkey."Dav Pilkey Official Website. September 3, 2012. Retrieved on August 14, 2018."The man behind" Captain Underpants "".CBS News.September 17, 2017.RetrievedAugust 18,2018.Dav dreams up those funny books at the home he shares with his wife, Sayuri, on a picturesque point on Bainbridge Island, Washington. The two have no children of their own.
  9. ^Publishers Weekly September 9, 2020, "The World of Dav Pilkey: Reigning Dogs and Cats" by Sally Lodge.
  10. ^"Planet Pilkey"(PDF).www.scholastic.com.
  11. ^Pilkey, Dav."Four New Books"(PDF).
  12. ^Archived atGhostarchiveand theWayback Machine:"Dav Pilkey Apology".YouTube.March 25, 2021.
  13. ^"Captain Underpants: Children's book withdrawn over 'passive racism'".BBC. March 3, 2021.RetrievedApril 6,2021.
  14. ^Morales, Christina (March 28, 2021)."Scholastic Halts Distribution of Book by 'Captain Underpants' Author".The New York Times.RetrievedApril 6,2021.
  15. ^ThunderX19 (January 17, 2013)."Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo-Toilet 2000 Teaser".YouTube.Archived fromthe originalon March 1, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 26,2013.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^Pilkey, Dav."THE ADVENTURES OF SUPER DIAPER BABY".pilkey.com.RetrievedNovember 24,2024.
  17. ^Schoenberg, Nara (April 16, 2015)."Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey brings underdog message to Chicago".Chicago Tribune.RetrievedMay 23,2015.Pilkey says he's still doing picture books in that vein, even as he follows George and Harold, authors of the upcoming "Dog Man" on new literary adventures.
  18. ^Bertini, Cristy (July 28, 2016)."Dav Pilkey's Super Amazing Author Adventures".The Huffington Post.
  19. ^"Guys Read: Terrifying Tales".Harper Collins.RetrievedOctober 30,2015.
  20. ^Lodge, Sally (September 19, 2013)."Dav Pilkey to Illustrate Picture Book of Inaugural Poem".Publishers Weekly.RetrievedOctober 30,2015.
  21. ^"The National Written & Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students Winners".Landmark Editions.RetrievedAugust 8,2007.
  22. ^Association for Library Service to Children (November 30, 1999)."Caldecott Medal Winners and Honor Books, 1938–Present".American Library Association.RetrievedMay 14,2019.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toDav Pilkey.

Interviews

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