If you love to read, and you especially love to read comic books, you've definitely heard of Dav Pilkey! Maybe you're a superfan of Captain Underpants or Dog Man - but do you know about the man who wrote AND illustrated them? These fun facts will tell you everything you need to know - and you might be surprised by some of them! And if you're left wanting more, don't worry - we've got quizzes! See how well you know Captain Underpants, find out your Captain Underpants character by picking a Roblox avatar, or see how well you know Dog Man: Unleashed!

1. It's pronounced "Dave"!

Ever wondered how to say his name? Well, it's not "dav" - it's "Dave!" His birth name is David Murray Pilkey Jr., so his dad has the same name. Well, not quite the same name...

2. His name comes from a typo

The nickname comes from when Dav worked at Pizza Hut as a teenager. For some reason the name badge they gave him was missing the "e" at the end of his name. It became a nickname, and he's stuck with it ever since!

3. He was inspired by Peanuts

When he was a child, Dav used to sit on the floor and read Peanuts, over and over again. You might have heard of Peanuts - they're the comics that star Charlie Brown and Snoopy! Dav says he loved the art style and the humour of the Peanuts strips, and you can totally see it in his own work! He also loves Dr. Seuss and the Frog and Toad series.

4. He has dyslexia and ADHD

Dav was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a kid. ADHD means you have difficulty concentrating and focusing, and you might have problems with hyperactivity and impulsiveness; and dyslexia means you have difficulty reading and writing.

5. He came up with Captain Underpants at school

Dav says he was often disruptive in class, so his teachers made him sit outside in the hallway every day. He occupied his time by writing and drawing his own stories - the early adventures of Captain Underpants, and Dog Man!

6. His first book was a little unusual!

Dav's first book came out in 1987, when he was only 19. It's called World War Won, and it's an allegory about the Cold War. It's about a fox and a raccoon racing to see who can get the biggest pile of weapons, while the wind threatens to blow both piles down. Dav entered it in a competition for student authors, and the book was published as his prize for winning!

7. He's from Ohio

Dav was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. It's the biggest city on the shores of Lake Erie (the eleventh largest lake in the world!), and the 54th most populous city in the United States! Dav's father was a reverend, and his mother was a church organist.

8. He lives in Washington

Nowadays you'll find Dav in the state of Washington, which is in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA (it's also where Twilight is set!). He met his wife Sayuri when he moved to Washington - she was the owner of his favourite Japanese restaurant!

9. He was a bit of a troublemaker!

Dav's open about being a pretty mischievous kid, and he did something pretty devious in school! His teacher had a reward system for the class which was a board covered in nails (one nail for each pupil). Every time a pupil was good, the teacher put a breadbag clip on their nail. Dav found the system "too aggressive", especially because one kid went to GREAT lengths to get more clips than everyone else and got really annoying about it. Dav solved the problem by tipping the board over, and once no one could remember how many clips they had, they just gave up. Fun fact: this annoying kid was the inspiration behind Melvin in the Captain Underpants books!

10. Look out for the killer hamsters!

You might notice something that comes up in Dav's books a lot - violent hamsters! In fact, he even made a song called "When Hamsters Attack"! It's because he finds the idea of something so cute being so vicious absolutely hilarious!

11. He's used lots of pen names!

Dav has published a few books, including The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, under the pen names George Beard and Harold Hutchins. Superfans know that these are characters from Captain Underpants - these are the books they wrote together! The illustrations are a little less polished than the ones in Captain Underpants, because that's how two kids would draw!

12. Captain Underpants was controversial!

It's kind of hard to believe, but some people really didn't want kids to read Captain Underpants! According to the American Library Association, the books are some of the most banned and challenged in the USA. This is because they have a lot of toilet humour in them, references to the LGBTQ+ community, and some say they encourage kids to disobey authority. What do you think - has anyone told you that you weren't allowed to read a book?

13. He retired a series

Dav decided to retire the series The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future. A petition that was signed by nearly 300 people stated that the character Master Wong was a racist stereotype of Chinese people. Dav said all the money he'd made from the books would go towards donating art supplies to children in underserved communities, and to charities that work to stop discrimination against Asian people. Some Asian-American critics defended the books though, saying that Master Wong is actually a positive character. The books aren't available in bookshops any more, and copies of them can fetch a lot of money on eBay.

14. He's won some big prizes

It's only fitting, given how successful his books are! Dav has scooped some seriously cool awards, including a Caldecott Honor Award in 1997, a prize for outstanding work in picture books for children. He also scooped a Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award for Captain Underpants, and in 2019 he was the Comic Industry Person of the Year!

15. He's written a LOT of books!

There's more to him than just Captain Underpants and Dog Man! His other series include the Dragon series, Dumb Bunnies, Cat Kid Comic Club, Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot and Big Dog & Little Dog, as well as a lot of standalone books, and books he worked on as an illustrator! If you want to do your own Dav Pilkey deep dive (deep Dav?), you've got so much to read!