A review by fredicia
Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 by Dav Pilkey

5.0

"You're thinking too much. Listen, if you look too closely at these stories, they're gonna fall apart completely. Whaddya think this is, Shakespeare?!!?"

Ironically enough, Shakespeare has quite a few loopholes.



And down the rabbit hole we go...

I remember coming to Canada and absolutely hating, detesting reading because it was so goddamn frustrating trying to learn a new language. And then these books came along and I thought it was the best thing, right up there with bagged milk. We have pictures, words spelled phonetically, and a plot line even my 7 year old self thought as ridiculous.

Then I promptly dropped this series and tackled Harry Potter.

But some stories do stay with you forever, don't they?

There is a certain fondness I associate with Captain Underpants and Magic Tree House and the Magic School Bus. They are for children, and the authors don't try to make them anything else. There is no great literary value, no pretentious coverup. They have realized that the point of reading is to have FUN. To create this environment for kids where if they are looked at funny by their peers and asked "you're reading? what's so good about reading?" they can respond "here, let me show you." and pull up a flip-o-rama or show some pictures of Cap defeating the bad toilet monster. It's silly, filled with juvenile humour, very little plot, and makes absolutely no sense if looked at too closely. But it's pure entertainment for a reluctant reader.

Which is why these will always be 5 star worthy.

***I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***