Dav Pilkey

**David Murray** "**Dav**" **Pilkey Jr.** (/ˈdeɪv/; born March 4, 1966)[2] is an American cartoonist, author and illustrator of children's literature. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series *Captain Underpants* and the children's graphic novel series *Dog Man*.

## Life and career

Pilkey was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Barbara and David Pilkey Sr.[3] He has one older sister. Pilkey was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia as a child.[4] In elementary school in North 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 the *Captain Underpants* character.[5] Pilkey entered his first book, *World War Won*, in a national competition for student authors and won in his age category. The book's publication in 1987 was included in the award.[3]

The atypical spelling of his first name came when the e was left off his name tag while working at Pizza Hut. [6]

Pilkey attended Kent State University.[7] He was previously in a romantic relationship with Cynthia Rylant.[8] He married Sayuri Pilkey in 2005.[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 are graphic novels: *The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future*, released on August 10, 2010; and *Super Diaper Baby 2: Invasion of the Potty Snatchers*, released on June 28, 2011. *Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers* was released on August 28, 2012 and *Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers* was released in January 2013.

As of 2017 Pilkey and his wife live in Bainbridge Island, Washington.[12]

## Dumb Bunnies

* *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* books under the pseudonym Sue Denim. He has stated that the series was influenced by *The Stupids*.

## Captain Underpants

* *The Adventures of Captain Underpants* (September 1, 1997)
* *Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets* (February 1999)
* *Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space* (September 1, 1999)
* *Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants* (July 29, 2000)
* *The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun* (2001)
* *Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman* (August 29, 2001)
* *The All New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book O' Fun 2* (2002)
* *Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets* (August 1, 2003)
* *Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers* (September 30, 2003)
* *Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People* (August 15, 2006)
* *Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers* (August 28, 2012)
* *Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers* (January 15, 2013)
* *Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000* (August 26, 2014)[13]
* *Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot* (August 25, 2015)

## Captain Underpants spin-offs

* *The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby* (February 5, 2002)
* *The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future* (August 10, 2010)
* *Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers* (June 28, 2011)

## Dog Man

* *Dog Man* (August 30, 2016)[14]
* *Dog Man: Unleashed* (December 27, 2017)
* *Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties* (August 29, 2017)[15]
* *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)

Pilkey authored the *Super Diaper Baby* and *Ook and Gluk* books under the pseudonyms Harold Hutchins and George Beard.

## Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot

* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot* (2000)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury* (2000)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus* (2001)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mecha Monkeys from Mars* (2002)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Jurassic Jackrabbits from Jupiter* (2002)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn* (2003)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Uranium Unicorns from Uranus* (2005)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Naughty Night Crawlers from Neptune* (2016)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Un-Pleasant Penguins from Pluto* (2016)
* *Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Astro-Activity Book o' Fun* (2000)

## *Big Dog & Little Dog*

* *Big Dog and Little Dog* (1997)
* *Big Dog and Little Dog Going for a Walk* (1997)
* *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

* *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) Illustrator only
* *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[16]
* *One Today* (2015) illustrator only[17]

## Awards

* 1986: The National Written and Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students, ages 14–19 category, *World War Won*[18]
* 1997: Caldecott Honor Award, *The Paperboy*[19]
* 1998: California Young Reader Medal, *Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis*, published in 1994
* 2007: Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, The *Captain Underpants* series
* 2016: Milner Award, The [Dav Pilkey] favorite children's book author, http://themilneraward.org/