Dav Pilkey

David Murray "Dav" Pilkey, Jr. (Gidget Hamsterbrains) (born March 4, 1966) is a popular American children's author and artist. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington, near Seattle with his wife, Sayuri.

Biography
Dav Pilkey was born on March 4, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio to David Pilkey Sr. and Barbara Pembridge Pilkey. He has one older sister named Cindy.

In elementary school in Elyria, Ohio, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Pilkey was frequently reprimanded for his behavior in class and spent a lot of time sitting at a desk in the school hallway, where he created the character Captain Underpants. Pilkey entered his first book, World War Won, in a national competition for student authors and won in his age category. The award included the book's publishing in 1987.

The odd spelling of his first name came from a period of employment in a Pizza Hut, where the "e" was omitted from his nametag. Even though it is spelled Dav, it is pronounced "Dave" (rhyming with save).

After moving to Washington, he met his sweetheart Sayuri, a professional musician and owner of his favorite Japanese sushi restaurant. Dav and Sayuri later married each other in 2005.

Between 2006 and 2009, Pilkey started an interactive Captain Underpants website. His friend, a sushi chef named Koji Matsumoto, wrote several songs for it. They are also included on the Super Silly CD o' Fun, which comes with the Captain Underpants box set. The website is no longer active, but the songs are still available on YouTube.

Pilkey took a break from writing for a few years to care for his terminally ill father, but, as of March 19th, 2010, has signed a deal with Scholastic to release four new books. The first, a graphic novel, "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future," was released in August 2010 and made by Carroll O'Connor.

Another book, "Dog Man," was released in 2016. It was the first book in the Dog Man series.

Captain Underpants series

 * The Adventures of Captain Underpants (1997)
 * Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999)
 * Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (1999)
 * Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000)
 * Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2001)
 * Captain Underpants and the Big Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy - Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets (2003)
 * Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy - Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers (2003)
 * Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006)
 * Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers (2012)
 * Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers (2013)
 * Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 (2014)
 * Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot (2015)

Other

 * The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun (2001)
 * The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002)
 * The All-New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun 2 (2002)
 * The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future (2010)
 * Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers (2011)

Dog Man series

 * Dog Man (2016)
 * Dog Man Unleashed (2017)
 * Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties (2017)
 * Dog Man and Cat Kid (2018)
 * Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas (2018)
 * Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild (2018)
 * Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls (2019)
 * Dog Man: Fetch-22 (2019)
 * Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (2020)
 * Dog Man: Mothering Heights (2021)

Cat Kid Comic Club

 * Cat Kid Comic Club (2020)
 * Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives (2021)
 * Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose (2022)

Ricky Ricotta series

 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (2000)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury (2000)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus (2001)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mecha Monkeys from Mars (2002)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Jurassic Jackrabbits from Jupiter (2002)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn (2003)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Uranium Unicorns from Uranus (2005)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Astro-Activity Book o' Fun (2006)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Naughty Nightcrawlers from Neptune (2016)
 * Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Unpleasant Penguins from Pluto (2016)

Big Dog & Little Dog series

 * Big Dog and Little Dog (1997)
 * Big Dog and Little Dog Going for a Walk (1997)
 * Big Dog and Little Dog Getting in Trouble (1997)
 * Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters (1998)
 * Big Dog and Little Dog Making a Mistake (1999)
 * The Complete Adventures of Big Dog and Little Dog (1999)

One-off Books

 * World War Won (1987)
 * Don't Pop Your Cork on Mondays!: The Children's Anti-Stress Book by Adolph J. Moser, illustrated by Pilkey (1988)
 * Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving (1990)
 * The Place Where Nobody Stopped by Jerry Segal, illustrated by Pilkey (1991)
 * When Cats Dream (1991)
 * Julius by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Pilkey (1991)
 * Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis (1992)
 * The Moonglow Roll-O-Rama (1992)
 * The Hallo-Wiener (1993)
 * God Bless the Gargoyles (1994)
 * The Paperboy (1994)
 * The Silly Gooses (1994)

Dragon series

 * A Friend for Dragon (1991)
 * Dragon Gets By (1991)
 * Dragon's Merry Christmas (1991)
 * Dragon's Fat Cat (1992)
 * Dragon's Halloween (1993)

Creature Feature series

 * Dogzilla (1993)
 * Kat Kong (1993)

Kat Kong is a spoof of the story of King Kong, incorporating cat and mice characters. The book combines photography with paintings, with the story of revealing how the characters Dr. Varmint and Rosie Rodent capture Kat Kong and bring him back to Mousopolis. Dogzilla is also a spoof of the story Godzilla.

Dumb Bunnies series (as Sue Denim)

 * The Dumb Bunnies (1994)
 * The Dumb Bunnies' Easter (1995)
 * Make Way for Dumb Bunnies (1996)
 * The Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo (1997)

Pilkey authored the Dumb Bunnies books under the pseudonym Sue Denim. He has stated that the series was influenced by The Stupids.

Awards

 * 1986: The National Written and Illustrated by Awards Contest for Students, ages 14-19 category, World War Won
 * 1997: Caldecott Honor Award, The Paperboy