Book Review: Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers

When I was but a little sapling in elementary school, I began a book series that would change my life. Uh.....ok, maybe not THAT much but hey, it was enjoyable and it made me laugh. Every kid should read this series. I am a kid at heart so I still find them to be loads of fun. Hopefully you enjoy this review and decide to start up with it again or give it a shot for the first time. All ages welcome

So Captain Underpants.....for those not in the know, Captain Underpants started in 1997 with the publishing of the first book, entitled: The Adventures of Captain Underpants. From 1997- 2006, 8 books were published, telling of his many adventures which I shall now list for the fun of writing every long and hilarious title.

1. The Adventures of Captain Underpants
2. Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
3. Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds)
4. Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants
5. Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman
6. Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets
7. Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers
8. Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People

The story revolves around 2 kids in elementary school, George Beard and Harold Hutchins. George is the kid with the tie and the flat-top, Harold is the one with the T-shirt and the bad haircut. Remember that now.

George and Harold attend one of the most horrible, yet totally realistic schools. The teachers are all jerks and the principal is the worst of all. There's no laughing allowed, bad lunches are served and, as usual, creativity and imagination are unwelcomed. George and Harold are FULL of imagination. So much, that they make their own comic books to sell at school. They switch sign letters to make funny messages. They're considered bad kids (especially when they make so many people fall victim to the horrendous, ever terrible.....SQUISHY). For those out of the know regarding squishies, the formula for one is quite simple: ketchup packet + toilet + toilet lid + ketchup packs carefully folded and placed under toilet seat lid + unsuspecting person sitting down and applying pressure to said toilet seat + ketchup spray + victim's legs = successful squishy. And that dear reader is how to initiate and complete a squishy.

Anywho, George and Harold, through a series of successful events leading up to now, hypnotize their principal. Whenever somebody snaps their fingers, he turns into Captain Underpants: defender of innocent, protector of the just, eliminator of evil who goes around bald, with a red curtain cape and nothing on but his underwear. He turns back into the mean old principal when water gets on him...splashed, thrown, accidentally squirted...you get the message.

For 8 books, we readers had the excitement and thrill of many adventures. And then....they stopped. Yes, that's right, out of nowhere they stopped coming. Book 8 concluded openly and there was a picture of the next novel. Which didn't come for another...oh..........6 years!!!! Its an outrage!!! But at least we finally got it.

Happily, ladies and germs, today I bring you a review for the long awaited 9th Epic Novel in the Captain Underpants saga.

Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers

Author: Dav Pilkey
Genre: Children's/ Humor
Year: 2012

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy where do I begin? So for those dedicated readers who've been here for the whole thing, we finally get to find out what happens with George and Harold and Crackers and Sulu. For those who don't.....Crackers is a pterodactyl and Sulu is a bionic hamster. George and Harold were about to be arrested because their evil twins robbed a bank and nobody really noticed that it wasn't the real George and Harold.

But guess who's back? Tippy Tinkletrousers. Wait...who? I don't know anyone by that name. Oh yeah, that's right. Its that one crazy short guy with the hilarious name who made everyone else change their names from book 4! Thereby turning me, Samantha K. King into Snotty Pottybutt. (Every kid who read this went ahead and checked what their name would've been if they were there when Professor Poopypants made everyone change their names....you all know who you are) That would make my sister Stinky Pottybutt....and my boyfriend would be Gidget Pizzabuns. Professor Poopypants has returned, but his name is now Tippy Tinkletrousers (so much better, right?) And this time he isn't make any other people change their names. No, his scheme is much more devious and evil and villainous....he wants to put an end to Captain Underpants.

But of course, as always, Pilkey doesn't just tell you about Tippy wanting to do that and how he goes about it. He has to tell you some other story before getting to the first story introduced. Typical. So we go back in time, 5 years, to see how in the world George and Harold first became friends. Which provides us with bullies, Krupp's nephew and a ghost by the name of Wedgie Magee. All leading up to a little problem later on. Tippy goes back in time, to this very moment and changes one tiny little thing, thereby creating The Banana Creme Pie Paradox. Those very familiar with the paradoxes involved with Time Traveling should know exactly what I'm talking about. All of the events happening in this book, therefore lead us to one of the hugest climactic cliffhangers EVER.

Overall, this book is hilarious (if you can't tell by my previous little summation, then something's up with how you think and you should probably pick up a new sense of humor ASAP). There's so much going on but there's so many laughs and its all pretty easy to follow once you're thrown smack dab into the middle of it. I would give this book a Lone Star rating of ✯✯✯✯ out of 5. Every Captain Underpants fan (even if they've grown up and moved away from books they picked up at the old Scholastic Book Fairs their schools hosted once upon a very long time ago) will want to read this and see what happened after all. Its quite the wild ride, if I do say so myself. If you've never read the series, I suggest you hop on and strap yourself in because it is SO worth the time it takes to read them....maybe an hour or two if you're an average reader, 30 minutes if you're a fast reader and get super into it. Read it.