Here's One for the Boys

The other day I took the boys to the library. Christian got his own card so he can play on the computers.  Then we lugged home a bunch of books and a 'Flushed Away' DVD that Gaby was craving.  I guess the theme was potty humor.  Christian and Gabriel are into superheroes, and Christian checked out several 'Captain Underpants' comic-books-within-chapter-books while Gaby found a Spider Man comic book with the green goblin.  Jojo ran around wildly in the library touching everything and removing books from the shelves as the librarian who was re-shelving politely glared in our direction. 

I was not familiar with 'Captain Underpants'.  I once told my friend Michelle that she has the soul of a teenage boy because she tries to get away with teaching the kids how to do 'wet willies' behind my back and other nefarious acts that she has taught her nephews. The author of this series of 'Captain Underpants', too, has the soul of a teenage boy.

So tonight we began 'Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People'.  I had planned on reading only a couple chapters and call it a night, but 60 pages and nine chapters later we had to stop laughing and put the book down.

The two protagonists/antagonists are George and Harold who write their own comic strip about Captain Underpants, aka their Principal Mr. Krupp.  They are naughty, dislike school, and the teachers are not very bright.  For instance, the two friends changed the sign on the teacher's lounge from 'Push Button to Open Door' to 'Push on Butt to Open Door' and the illustration of the teachers doing just that is, well, preposterous.  George and Harold go into the Purple Potty time machine and end up in opposite land where they meet their evil twins.

A few weeks ago I had forgotten to send Christian's lunch with him to school and on that infamous day my picky eater had to consume cafeteria food.  He told me he cried when he was told by the duty, "You have to eat everything on your plate."  He missed recess "and everything" he informed me.  Even the chocolate milk did not taste like chocolate milk! Christian never wants to eat cafeteria food again. We laughed until we cried at the following excerpt:

The two friends walked to the cafeteria and took a whiff.

"That's weird," said Harold. "It doesn't smell like dirty diapers, greasy dishwater, and moldy tennis shoes in here anymore. It smells like -- like food!" (p. 44)

Michelle would be oh so proud that I am reading this book to the boys.