This book, being “The Second Epic Novel” about Captain Underpants,
arrived in my home, along with four or five others, whilst I was in
Australia. I want this to be perfectly clear–my sister is responsible,
not me. Jane read “The First Epic Novel”,
The Adventures of Captain Underpants, to David while I was
gone; I got to read him the concluding chapters of the second volume on
my return.

The series is really about two boys who can’t sit still in class–the
kind who are clever, easily bored, and always able to make their own fun.
In the first book, so I gather, they write a comic book about a character
named Captain Underpants–the first superhero to wear jockey shorts
instead of longjohns. He has “wedgie power”. Along the way, they
hypnotize the school principle, Mr. Krupp, into thinking that he’s
Captain Underpants. When anyone snaps their fingers, Mr. Krupp will
divest himself of his outer clothes and his hair piece, and rush off to
fight evil wearing only his underpants and a cape.

In this volume, our heroes use an old copier revamped as a Science Fair
exhibit to try to make copies of their latest comic book. To their
dismay, the evil beings therein (the Talking Toilets) come to life and
ravage the school, eating all of the students and faculty (including the
delightfully named Miss Anthrope, Ms. Ribble, and Mr. Meaner). They save
the day by feeding the toilets the food from the school cafeteria.

The book is clear aimed at the beginning reader. Above all, it’s short.
The book is short, the chapters are short, and the pages are short.
The writing is breezy and fast-paced, and Dav Pilkey undeniably has a
lock on what small boys find amusing, and he manages to (mildly)
entertain the adult reader as well.

Which is just as well, as I’ve got several more of these in my
future–both David and James were in stitches.