Should schools promote 'Captain Underpants' books? 

YES
It's a 'boy thing'—and a good one at that
By Sara Kelly Johns 

IT'S ABOUT BOYS ... boys learning to love reading and becoming lifelong readers. Boys choose books that are humorous and adventurous; getting one that captures their attention can be a trick. That's why school libraries may well have Captain Underpants on their shelves, at least for the few minutes between one boy returning a copy and another taking it out.

School libraries have Captain Underpants books because they are fun and enticing and give elementary school librarians the opportunity to be magicians. They can wave the magic wand of books that will get students reading and, say the magic words ("When you are done with that one, I have another one I know you will like") and soon, there is another child hooked on reading.

Anne Hanson, school librarian at Hoover Elementary School in North Mankato, Minn., and frequent presenter on storytelling, says about the books and their author: "Dav Pilkey understands what it means to embrace silliness, even in a setting where it may be discouraged. We need silliness everywhere, but especially in the library where we want kids to understand what it means to read for pleasure. They love the adventure and the subversive elements of the heroes."

Melissa Johnston, Silver City Elementary media specialist in Forsyth County (Ga.) Schools, and 2006-07 Georgia media specialist of the year, agrees that there is a one-word answer to why schools have Captain Underpants in their libraries: "Boys! When you can't get them to read anything else, this will do the trick. Yes, it is ‘potty humor,' but it does excite them about reading. It just takes one book to turn them on to reading-hopefully, they will move on to better-quality books."

Boys (and the girls who devour Captain Underpants as well as such series as Rainbow Magic by Daisy Meadows) who love to read will move on to better-quality books, nudged and nurtured by their school librarians who wisely stock their school libraries with Harry Potter, comic books, graphic novels, the latest great new books and the classics.

NO
Don't confuse popular with preferred
By Gary D. Askins 

DON'T GET YOUR undies in an uproar, but I don't think the Captain Underpants series should be included in elementary school reading. I'm not talking about banning books here; instead, I'm merely asking for some professional consideration of what is appropriate for the learning of 7- to 10-year-old children.

There is an incredible wealth of literature written for young people that is life affirming, humorous and fun to read. I do not include the writings of Dav Pilkey among them. His body of work is largely built on the lowest common denominator: the humor of bodily functions and frat-boy disrespect toward teachers, parents and adults in general.

Pilkey's successful quest for cutting-edge subversive satire has found a huge audience; his sales of books featuring talking toilets, boogerboys, barfbabies, Professor Poopypants and Tippy Tinkletrousers now number more than 6 million copies. I would suggest that the same society that feeds off the latest Paris Hilton or Britney Spears train wreck proves that puerile pursuits are profitable.

I come from a generation that venerated Mad magazine, "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons." My own sense of humor has been described as wickedly weird, and I know that comedy requires a certain edge to be relevant. Captain Underpants, I grant, is bound to appeal along those lines. But I question if schools need to be promoting books that give detailed instructions about using ketchup packages under commode lids to sabotage the undergarments of unsuspecting classmates.

In a recent radio interview, Mr. Pilkey admitted, "Maybe I am teaching kids horrible things." This admission followed the interviewer's brief introduction of the author and a description of his works, as she explained, "Well, we won't read them on the air to spare our listeners." If these books contain language that is too crude or inappropriate for an adult radio audience, then I would suggest that a classroom teacher should be very selective about using them as an introduction to the wonderful world of words.

The coarsening of our contemporary culture is a given. The challenge for us is to prevent an education that produces a vast population able to read but sadly unable to distinguish what is worth reading.