David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. (/ˈdeɪv/; born March 4, 1966)[1] is an American cartoonist, author, and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series, Captain Underpants, and its spin-off children's graphic novel series Dog Man, the latter published under the respective writer and illustrator pen namesofGeorge Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are also the names of the two protagonists of the Captain Underpants series.
Pilkey was born in Cleveland, 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 conservative Christian household and went to Christian schools throughout his life.
Pilkey was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia as a child.[4] In elementary school in Elyria, 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] In 1987, Pilkey wrote his first book, World War Won, an allegorical fable inspired by the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, in a national competition for student authors and 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 at Pizza Hut.[6]
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby was published in 2002 and was Pilkey's first full complete graphic novel. It appeared at No. 6 on the USA Today bestseller list for all books, both adult and children's, and was also a New York Times bestselling book for Children's Middle Grade. The first Super Diaper Baby graphic novel was published with Scholastic years before Scholastic created the Graphix imprint.[9]
On March 25, 2021, Dav Pilkey announced on his YouTube channel that he and Scholastic would cease further publication of his book The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, and would remove it from retailers and libraries, in response to a 289-signature petition claiming a character in the book to be a stereotype.[12][13][14] This removal would be heavily criticised by media, in particular The New York Post, who praised the novel as "a prime example of a positive portrayal of an Asian character in literature [who is] endearing and full of wisdom",[15] and refuting the logic of the petition's creator as itself being biased against Chinese people, with Reason calling the novel "charming, not racist", citing "Pilkey's whole gag [as] the censorial impulse [being] ridiculous and kids instinctively know[ing] it should be mocked",[16] calling for the novel's republication amongst a list of books banned in America in August 2022.[17]
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 a stop-motion animation TV show with 78 episodes from 2004 to 2007.
Pilkey authored the Super Diaper Baby books and Ook and Gluk under the pseudonyms George Beard and Harold Hutchins, to be authentic to the book's theme.
^ ab"Dav Pilkey". Ohio Authors Online. Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
^"Meet Dav." Dav Pilkey Official Website. April 17, 2003. Retrieved on August 14, 2019.
^"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. Retrieved August 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.
^Publishers Weekly September 9, 2020, "The World of Dav Pilkey: Reigning Dogs and Cats" by Sally Lodge.
^Schoenberg, Nara (April 16, 2015). "Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey brings underdog message to Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 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.
^Bertini, Cristy (July 28, 2016). "Dav Pilkey's Super Amazing Author Advent-bertini/dav-pilkeys-super-amazing_b_11200852.html". The Huffington Post.
