Captain Underpants Returns
RSSBy Lauren Barack
Sure to send students straight to their library, Captain Underpants will return with two new books from beloved author Dav Pilkey. Scholastic will publish one million English-language first printings of both new Captain Underpants stories, with the 9th book sending George and Harold back to kindergarten to face bully Kipper Krupp, their school principal's nephew. And for students more comfortable with ereaders, Scholastic plans to bring Pilkey's "Super Diaper Baby" graphic novels into digital format on January 31 with the release of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002) and Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers (2011, both Scholastic). "We decided to start with the "Super Diaper Baby" books because they are graphic novels," says Ellie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade, by email. "We are taking sequential art from the books and presenting them in a whole new way." Berger went on to say that the "Super Diaper Baby" books are well suited as the first of Pilkey's books to turn into digital format because they present the stories "one panel at a time, the way one reads a graphic novel." But Captain Underpants won't be left behind in the digital age, as Scholastic is working with Pilkey to bring the superhero to ebook format at some point as well. "These are illustrated chapter books, not graphic novels, so the different format presents different challenges and opportunities," Berger says. "No date has been announced yet."
January 19, 2012
The first, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers, will hit shelves August 28, followed by Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers (both Scholastic) in January 2013—the 9th and 10th stories in a wildly popular series that follows students George and Harold along as they hypnotize their school principal into believing he's a superhero.
