Scholastic Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets

I saw these books and avoided them for years because I thought they had to be absolutely ridiculous! Guess what?!? I was right, but when you have a five year old boy who is not interested in reading, you give these books a chance and I did and he LOVED them. Yes, you have to be able to get passed the potty humor and or even better join in with the laughs because of course there is so much silly potty humor in them (There's a giant super hero in his underpants fighting talking toilets, so of course it's non stop little kid potty humor), but it will bring giggles and delight into your child's face and you will learn to enjoy them just like your kids. This is a book my 8 year old daughter actually enjoyed reading to her 5 year old little brother. My kids begged for more and more books and loved reading them, so I call them a WIN!

My 4.5 year old son loves these books (we've read 1-5 so far). He doesn't read yet so I read them to him but they are a nice step up from regular picture books. We read a chapter every night before bed (two if it's a one page chapter or the flip-o-rama chapter) the suspense of what happens next and waiting to find out is fun. He likes that it has chapters but also there are good visuals for him.

My son loves this nonsense, it is complete nonsense too but really if your child will read, let them read whatever they want. We have bought more of these since and they are read every night and I hear about how they go =swimming in the toilet and other nonsense, but he cannot say it to me without laughing his head off so It is a good book series!

Bathroom humor, crazy antics and a comic strip included...he loves it!!My son has been the so-called 'reluctant reader'-- mostly because he is extremely stubborn and likes to be 'opposite-boy'. On the one hand he wants to have everything and do everything like his big brother does. BUT, he needs it on his own terms, or has to do it with his own twist. (No Mama, I won't do Kung Fu, I want to do Karate).So, I was faced with an 8 year old who would like to reject reading. Mom does it, Pop does it, and Brother does it. For fun. Even just a few months ago my youngest did not WANT to read. However, for homework (I love his teacher) he has to keep a reading log AND read EVERY NIGHT. With both home and school influences he really did read, but didn't enjoy himself.Trying to find books that engage him has been tough. So much for the entire Magic Tree House series. Of course we own the whole series (well through about 2008 anyway), but that was his brother's thing to read, and my little one just won't pick them up unless forced, sigh.I found the answer when I stumbled across a Harry the Horrible. This child of mine loves the rambunctious and smart types, even rebels, and Captain Underpants is right up his alley.Has my child become disobedient, disrespectful, or does he get in trouble at school now? Of course not!I've read some of the critical comments about Captain Underpants in terms of modeling behavior and level of humor, and well, get real. Oddly enough, the lad likes 8-year-old-boy humor. He enjoys the funny aspects of the stories and knows the difference between real life and story life. (Of course parental input and awareness are useful--'you would't REALLY do that right???').In any case, on my son's report card there is a category for 'reading for fun and information' and on his most recent card he got the highest mark! My previously reluctant read is now doing very well! Is it really Captain Underpants? Surely not entirely, but allowing him to read what he likes seems to be just the ticket and Captain Underpants has been a tremendously popular series at my house!5 star rating here!JTG

I don't particularly like this type of literature, mostly because as a language teacher I find it hard that one can continue working on one's reading skills with the author's writing style as it is. However, my son does like it and I'm happy he keeps on reading--and thus continue cultivating the habit.