Dav Pilkey’s Deep Dark Secrets

Dav Pilkey’s work proves to be a masterpiece by influencing children all around the world with the massive amount of books he has written. He made many famous series to this date and his most notorious one is  Captain Underpants. Many kids around the world enjoy reading the entire series and serves as a catalyst for kids to enjoy reading much more. But why are his books so impactful to the intended audience? Why does his work hold so much influence to it? Dav Pilkey engages the audience through his natural skill and enjoyment in writing from his illustrations and technique, he is an inspiration for young children with the influence and impact he has in his writing.

Dav Pilkey was interviewed by Isabella Biedenharn and one of the questions that were asked was about his favorite book as a child. He stated, “Where the Wild Things Are”. I’ve always loved monsters, so it was a perfect book for me.” Dav Pilkey was influenced by other fairytale children books growing up that he eventually started writing his own. Where the Wild Things Are talks about a boy named Max who is very sensitive and he feels like no one understands him when he speaks. He then takes his imagination and lets it take control of his surroundings and he is at an island where the wild things are. He finds unique and weird-looking creatures that can’t control how they feel and what they do is very unpredictable. The correlation between Where the Wild Things Are and the books he writes are very similar. Many of the characters he writes about are very spontaneous in their actions and it’s almost impossible to guess what they are going to do next. That is a current theme that pops up in many children’s books around the world. A lot of random things which would make children more engaged in the book. For example, let’s say you’re doing the dishes in the kitchen and the dog comes in to drink his water. That wouldn’t engage a child to want to read the book more and it’s generally boring but when you add that random aspect to it, it can significantly change the outcome of the book. For example, you’re in the kitchen and a building gets blasted by a laser beam and you see Godzilla terrorizing the town. That was way more engaging to a child-like mind than the earlier example. Randomness and unpredictability are major things to include in a book if you want to engage the child. This is prevalent in one of Dav Pilkey’s books called, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers. At the end of this book, the main antagonist travels to the future just to see the world is on fire and a massive wasteland. Everything is ruled by giant toilets and nerd zombies. You can see how unpredictability can help children stay engaged in the book with how much it appeals to their imagination.

Many people have inspiration in going into their career path. Whether you want to be an electrician, software engineer, or an author like Dav Pilkey. Dav Pilkey’s biggest inspiration is Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz. Charles Shultz is a historical cartoonist and most call him the most influential cartoon creator in history. Dav Pilkey shared his experience and why he was the biggest influence in his life. “I used to run home from school every day, and I would throw open the newspaper and flop down on the floor and read. There’s so much warmth and so much humanity in those characters. I loved them so much. I was always drawing them and creating stories about them, and it inspired me to create my own stories, too.” Dav Pilkey’s childhood has probably the biggest influence on him. He was a kid with a huge imagination and the way he would express that is writing his own stories and books at such a young age. He also uses Charles Schulz’s work to help himself as a writer. He would make his own stories about these characters and put his own imagination and twist to the characters. Many people’s childhood are reasons why they choose who they want to be and for Dav Pilkey, he loved to make his own stories and use his imagination so much that he ended up being a children’s book writer from that sole purpose.

Dav Pilkey’s writing is not the only reason why children are so attached and engaged in his books. His illustrations have a heavy influence on children at such a young age. Illustrations in a book might be the most important part of a book. Illustrations can keep the child engaged in a book and want to read more which is the outcome most parents want their children to have. Dav Pilkey wrote tons of comic books when he was younger. His teachers and principles didn’t support him at all, they even tore up some of his comics, but his parents were extremely supportive. His parents encouraged him to keep on writing comics and it was something he did in his free time. That is exactly how he came up with Captain Underpants. He was in 2nd grade when his teacher said “Underwear” and everybody started laughing. He then had the idea of drawing a superhero who was only in underwear and a red cape and named him Captain Underpants. Dav Pilkey has tons of experience in illustrating books to his own design so other people can enjoy them. Some of his illustrations and stories are based on experiences he had in the past. Illustrations are one of the best ways for children to enjoy reading. It is extremely effective in keeping children engaged. Most kids at that age aren’t too engaged with the storyline of the book but they would like to see funny pictures while they’re reading. It can also help children expand their imagination and help them learn things they would have never known. The imagination can help children become more creative and help in their cognitive development. It helps them think visually and become stronger visual learners which is important at such a young age because it helps develop their minds. Their process of learning new and interesting things would become stronger and better through illustrations themselves and it might correlate to them enjoying reading the words on the page. “Picture book composition is complex, developed with specificity, and created with an interplay between pictures and words. Picture books have an intentional design with little text that is not carefully planned. Each dot, dash, letter, and stance of a character is detailed, and each artistic illustration carries meaning. This type of genre is more than just pictures illustrating text. Picture books send a message with intent and purpose, and often focus on an intended audience.” (Beltchenko). Picture books and illustrations can send a heavy message to the child even though many people or even the child themselves might not realize. Everything an author puts into their picture book has a purpose within them. Illustrations strengthen and sharpen a young child’s thinking. Illustrations can also help the kids understand what exactly they are reading. If young children have a problem understanding what is happening in the story, art and pictures will help them understand that. Dav Pilkey cracked the code when it comes to illustrations by making many picture books throughout his years and learning how big of an impact illustrations can have. Dav Pilkey has been drawing for years so he knows exactly how to make illustrations so engaging with the audience.

Dav Pilkey is an expert writer and illustrator with many strengths and little flaws when it comes to his work. He is an extremely successful individual who writes engaging and fun children’s books for kids. Many of his techniques and intentions may go overlooked by many but he is a master of his art. Dav Pilkey likes to be very spontaneous and random with his writing, but he has a trajectory that appeals to the young eye. He may write many random things like a car broke down so I called superman to fly me to work, but he has a goal in mind and that is engaging a young audience with the randomness that comes with his work. Randomness is a strong and effective way to keep a child engaged with your book because it makes it very interesting and it makes children want to read more. Dav Pilkey also put a lot of his own imagination and twists to his stories to make them appealing to children. For example, when his teacher just said the word underwear, he thought of a bald superhero in a cape only wearing underwear. Dav Pilkey has such a strong imagination and he is really good at bringing it to life through the books he writes. Dav Pilkey is also a fantastic illustrator that knows what type of artwork and pictures would keep a child engaged. Illustration is one of the most important, if not, the most important thing when it comes to a children’s book. Many kids use illustrations as a way to be engaged with the book. It’s a way for kids to understand what is going on in the book and it can also help strengthen their visual learning skills. Dav Pilkey is a master in writing children’s books. He engages the audience through his natural skill and enjoyment in writing. Dav Pilkey is an inspiration for young children with the influence and impact he has in his writing.