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Sue Denim redirects here. For the member of Robots in Disguise, see Sue Denim (musician).

David "Dav" Pilkey (born March 4, 1966), is a popular children's author and artist. Dav Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, Sayuri.

Biography

Dav Pilkey was born on March 4, 1966 ^[1]in Cleveland, Ohio to David Pilkey Sr. and Barbara Pembridge Pilkey.^[2] He has one older sister, Cindy.

In elementary school in Elyria, Ohio, he was diagnosed as suffering from ADHD and dyslexia. Pilkey was frequently reprimanded for his behavior in class and spent a lot of time sitting at a desk in the school hallway, where he created the Captain Underpants character.^[3] Pilkey entered his first book, World War Won, in a national competition for student authors and won in his age category. The award included the book's publishing in 1987.^[2]

The odd spelling of his first name came from a period of employment in a Pizza Hut, when the "e" was omitted from his nametag. Even though it is spelled Dav, it is pronounced "Dave" (rhyming with cave).^[4]

After moving to Washington state, he met his sweetheart Sayuri, a professional musician and owner of his favorite Japanese sushi restaurant.^[5] In 2005, Dav and Sayuri were married.

Pets

Many of his pets were inspirations for his books. In the books Kat Kong and Dogzilla, the animals pictured are some of Pilkey's actual pets.

Works

Books

• World War Won (1987)
• Don't Pop Your Cork on Mondays!: The Children's Anti-Stress Book by Adolph J. Moser, illustrated by Pilkey (1988)
• Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving (1990)
• The Place Where Nobody Stopped by Jerry Segal, illustrated by Pilkey (1991)
• When Cats Dream (1991)
• Julius by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Pilkey (1991)
• Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis (1992)
• The Moonglow Roll-O-Rama (1992)
• The Hallo-Wiener (1993)
• God Bless the Gargoyles (1994)
• The Paperboy (1994)
• The Silly Gooses (1994)
• The Paperboy (1996)

Series

Dragon

For the animated television series based on the books, see Dragon (TV series).

• A Friend for Dragon (1991)
• Dragon Gets By (1991)
• Dragon's Merry Christmas (1991)
• Dragon's Fat Cat (1992)
• Dragon's Halloween (1993)

[Creature Feature]

• Dogzilla (1993)
• Kat Kong (1993)
  

  

  Kat Kong book cover

Kat Kong is a spoof of the story of King Kong, incorporating a cat and mice characters. The book combines photography with paintings, with the story of revealing how the characters Dr. Varmint and Rosie Rodent capture Kat Kong and bring him back to Mousopolis. Dogzilla is also a spoof of the story Godzilla.

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 (1997)
• Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999)
• Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (2000)
• Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants
• Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2001)
• Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy (Parts 1 & 2) (2003)
• Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006)
• Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (2010)
• Brainy Bomboozle of Black Cheetah Man (TBA)

Ricky Ricotta

• Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (2000)
• Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitos 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 Astro-Activity Book o' Fun (2006)

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)

References in media

• In the book 15 Minutes by Steve Young, Casey's football team competes against Pilkey Middle School. (Named after Dav Pilkey.) Ironically, the school he goes to is named Jon Scieszka. (another author.)

Awards

• 1986: The National Written and Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students, ages 14-19 category, World War Won^[6]
• 1997: Caldecott Honor Award, The Paperboy^[7]

References

External links

• Dav Pilkey's Extra Crunchy Website o' Fun (official website)

Interviews

• Pilkey, Dav. Interview with Beth Nissen. Transcript of e-mail interview with Dav Pilkey, author, 'Captain Underpants' series. CNN. 2000-07-11.
• Pilkey, Dav. Interview with Andrea Sachs. A Hero In Briefs. Time. 2001-08-27.
• Pilkey, Dav. Interview with Jennifer Ludden. The Man Behind Captain Underpants. All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 2003-09-20.