Captain Underpants - Funny or Offensive?

October 01, 2012

As I was reshelving some books the other day, I came upon a book called 120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature. Knowing that Banned Books Week was coming up, I just had to peek inside and see what books have been challenged. As I began perusing the book, I was quite surprised by some of the books that have been challenged, censored, and banned over the years. The most surprising to me was the book series by Dav Pilkey: Captain Underpants. The book was banned based on social grounds: anti-family content, unsuited to age group, violence, offensive language, modeling bad behavior, and encouraging children to disobey authority.

So, of course, I had to bring the subject up at one of our group work tasks the next day. "What do you all think of the fact that Captain Underpants has been banned on social grounds," I ask? The conversation that followed this simple question was very interesting and enlightening. It was actually quite fun learning what my coworkers thought of this book and of banned books in general. And we had all groups represented; some people agreed with the ban of this book, some were opposed to the ban, and some were indifferent.

So, I had to share, and inquire, of you all as well. What do you feel about this book series Captain Underpants? Funny or Offensive?

Kathleen A.
North Oak branch