THE ADVENTURES OF SUPER DIAPER BABY

Familiar faces and familiar themes reappear in Pilkey’s newest addition to the Captain Underpants family. George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the merry pranksters of his wildly popular series, are back, this time as authors of a “graphic novel.” Punished by their principal, Mr. Krupp, the boys are sentenced to write a 100-page essay on “Good Citizenship.” Of course, that doesn’t happen. The story of Super Diaper Baby is their not-so-contrite response to the punishment. There is plenty to be offended by in this truly “graphic” work. Adults and children who can spell well will surely be distracted and occasionally confused by the plethora of misspelled words and missing punctuation marks. The bad guy being turned into a giant “piece of poo” and many more visual and written references to human excrement will revolt grownups and embarrass some members of the intended audience. When Diaper Dog reassures the newly transformed Deputy Dangerous that it could be worse, “you could have been turned into diareah [sic],” most adults will consider closing the covers and turning to more serious fare. But most children get a delicious thrill from reading forbidden and naughty things, and Pilkey has filled this niche for the emergent reader. Silly puns abound. Scatological humor is the order of the day, crowned with a toilet-paper–wrapped Deputy Doo-Doo being delivered to, you guessed it, Uranus. Adults will want to use this book as a birdcage liner, and young readers with elementary senses of humor will revel in the humor and silliness. Some readers might feel encouraged to design their own comic books. More sophisticated readers will better appreciate the forbidden humor of Roald Dahl. (Fiction. 6-10)