(Photo by Kai Suzuki)
SANTA CRUZ — Children’s book author Dav Pilkey has a message for students who feel out of place in school, for those who have difficulty paying attention in class.
His message is also geared toward or for those who might occasionally get in trouble for such extracurricular activities as drawing rude pictures of their principals during a lesson.
In other words, for kids just like he was.
Pilkey, 51, is best known for his “Captain Underpants” series. He will be at Kaiser Permanente Arena Wednesday night to talk to his young fans and to promote his latest book, “Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties.”
Pilkey was leaving from Denver, Colo. on his way to San Francisco on Monday when he spoke with this newspaper.
The “Underpants” comics focus on George and Harold, two fifth-grade class clowns whose antics infuriate teachers and especially rankle their principal Mr. Krupp, who transforms into his alter-ego superhero Captain Underpants when someone snaps their fingers.
It’s important to note that this transformation takes place because George and Harold hypnotized him to do so.
More importantly, the boys cling to their creativity, senses of humor and mischievousness despite being besieged by teachers and by school administrators who are completely bereft of those attributes.
Pilkey says the characters are in part a self-portrait of himself as a student.
He said that getting kicked out of “safety school” at age 4 began a lifelong “spree of mischievousness.”
Pilkey said he suffered from “extreme hyperactivity,” and had trouble learning and reading, and frequently found himself in trouble in class, to the point where one teacher moved his desk to the hall.
In high school, teachers tried to discourage his penchant for creating cartoons. That skill went undiscovered until college, when a professor caught him drawing instead of taking notes.
Instead of the reprimand he expected, however, the professor said she loved his work and encouraged him to publish.
He wrote his first book, and submitted it to a contest, which he won. It was two decades ago this month that his first book was published.
He has since authored and illustrated nearly 50 books, including the “Dragon” series, which is about a simple-minded but kind-hearted purple dragon. He also created the “Dumb Bunnies” and the “Dog Man” series.
The Captain Underpants character, along with George and Harold, even made it to the big screen as a summer movie.
Still, it took several attempts before a publisher would take a chance with Captain Underpants.
“Maybe they weren’t quite ready for an underwear-clad superhero,” he said.
Despite his setbacks, Pilkey said he found a way to do what he loved.
“…if a sillysmart-alecky kid like Dav Pilkey can turn out all right, then there is hope for every kid,” he said.
Pilkey said he hopes that students can see something of themselves in his work.
“I want to encourage the kids to read for fun and inspire their creativity,” he said. “That was one of my hopes from the very beginning.”
Pilkey tipped his hat to school librarians and bookstores, which he said encourage young people to read and “inspire literacy.”
“I love being a part of that,” he said.
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Dav Pilkey will be at the Kaiser Permanente Arena, 140 Front St. in Santa Cruz, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The event costs $10.89 and includes two tickets and a copy of “Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties.” For information and tickets, visit www.bookshopsantacruz.com/dav-pilkey-book-and-tickets-package.
For information, visit www.pilkey.com.
