Dav Pilkey | |
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 Pilkey at a book event in 2018 | |
| Born | David Murray Pilkey Jr. March 4, 1966 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Pen name | Dav Pilkey |
| Occupation |
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| Genre | Children's literature, comedy. |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Notable works | Dragon series Captain Underpants series Dog Man series Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series Dumb Bunnies series |
| Spouse |
Sayuri Pilkey (m. 2005) |
| Signature | |
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| Website | |
| pilkey | |
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 names of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are also the names of the two protagonists of the Captain Underpants series.
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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]
Pilkey graduated from Kent State University.[7] He married Sayuri Pilkey in 2005.[8]
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]
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.
Pilkey and his wife live on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
On March 25, 2021, Dav Pilkey announced on his YouTube channel that he and Scholastic would cease further publication of the book The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, and would remove it from retailers and libraries due to some characters in the book being stereotypes. Pilkey stated that he intended to showcase diversity, equality, and non-violent conflict resolution. He also stated that even unintentional and passive stereotypes are harmful to everyone. Pilkey will donate his entire advance, past, and future royalties from the book to organizations promoting diversity that are designed to stop violence against Asians.[12][13][14]
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 Dumb Bunnies series using the pseudonym, Sue Denim.
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Main article: Captain Underpants § Novels |
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.
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Main article: Dog Man |
Dog Man is also a spin-off of Captain Underpants.
Cat Kid Comic Club is a spin-off of Dog Man.
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Main article: Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (series) |
