Grow Up or Grow Down?

(A review of Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers by Dave Pilkey)

This tenth epic Captain Underpants novel jumps in right where the ninth one left off, with a time-traveling Tippy Tinkletrousers having apparently and inadvertently vanquished our hero for all time. Fortunately, both the good guys and the bad guys in the story have access to time travel machines, so the action picks up with a complicated, convoluted quest to restore things to their rightful order.

Over the course of the wacky adventure, we get two versions of Captain Underpants fighting side by side, three versions of Tippy working together against George and Harold at the same time, and the true stories behind: the big bang at the creation of the universe, the extinction of the dinosaurs, the start of the last ice age, the first caveman paintings on cave walls (in France), the world's first comic, and more.

And, of course, the book has plenty of patented Flip-O-Rama, action, humor, graphic novel sections, and ridiculous fun.

"Wow!" said George. "You mean it's that easy? All you have to do is make up your mind and stick to it, and you can change the future?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Harold.

Chapter 2

Let's Get Serious, Folks!

Did you ever notice how grown-ups hate it when kids are having fun? Seriously, when was the last time you were doing something fun and some adult came over and made you stop? If you're like most kids, you're probably reading this very book because some adult wanted you to quit playing video games or watching TV.

If you don't believe me, try this experiment: Grab a few of your friends, go into the corner of a room, and start goofing around. Make some noise! Start laughing and cheering and maybe shout out a "Woo-hoo!" or two. It's been scientifically proven that 89.4 percent of all grown-ups will drop whatever they're doing and rush over to put a stop to whatever "nonsense" you're up to.

You have to wonder, why are most grown-ups like this? Weren't they ever kids themselves? Didn't they enjoy laughing and cheering and goofing around when they were young? If so, when did they stop? And why?

Now, I certainly can't speak for all adults, but I'm going to anyway.

I think it's a lot easier for adults to stomp out someone else's fun than it is for them to reflect on their own lives and figure out where it all went so miserably wrong. It's just too depressing for grown-ups to ponder all the decades of compromises, failures, laziness, fear, and regrettable choices that slowly transformed them from running, jumping, laughing, fun-loving kids into grumpy, complaining, calorie-counting, easily offended, peace-and-quiet-demanding grouches.

In other words, it's harder to look within yourself than it is to shout, "HEY, YOU KIDS, CUT THAT OUT!"

Keeping this in mind, you might not want to smile or laugh while reading this book. And when you get to the Flip-O-Rama parts, I suggest you flip with a bored, disinterested look on your face or some adult will probably take this book away from you and make you read Sarah, Plain and Tall instead.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Book titles pictured in the illustrations: Lose Weight While Blaming Others and 7 Steps to Living a Marginally Less Unfulfilled Life]