My kids had no idea about Captain Underpants until dear old Mom brought a couple of books home and read them to kids. We laughed and laughed together. And they do, evey now and again, pull those books out and reread them.
I think, as with anything, moderation is key. Now, if you find the material offensive or questionable, then I think you shouldn't let him read them at all. And, of course, it's important to remember that whatever goes in will inevitably come out. If you're OK with whatever may come out of your child after reading these books, then there should be no problem. I've personally never read or, to my knowledge, seen these books, so I don't have any real opinion on them one way or the other. You're the parent, so your opinion regarding your child is the only one that matters anyway.
I read the first one, the first time, with him. My folks gave it to him for Christmas. We talked a lot about the appropriateness of potty humor in public places. That we could joke at home, but there were somethings just not talked about outside the home. This included Bible School and Grandparents! We also talked about disobedience, etc. (there are a few smart alecky comments in it too). He pointed them out like saying "Oh, no, he shouldn't talk like that!". So, I know he knows the difference between right and wrong behavior enough, at least i think he does. My sister saw him reading the one my folks gave him for Christmas the other day, and my nephew had read them when he was younger also. Aside from being duly impressed that he was reading them on his OWN. LOL (proud mama moment). She gave us all the Captain Underpants books she had! LOL He's got enough to last him quite a while! It's also not ALL he's reading. He is still reading his Science books, his Bug Books and his Nate the Great books too. He actually reads the Captain Underpants books while he's on the potty, mostly! LOL I guess that's appropriate. I feel better. I know he and I have talked and he knows I have no qualms pulling them if I feel he's being inappropriate. It helps that the only people who would watch him, or be with him when I'm not around would be totally comfortable telling me if he was behaving inappropriately. My step-mom (who gave him the book) would gleefully tell me (long story...). Anyway... Thanks.
My son read some of the Captain Underpants books many years ago. He'll be 13 next week, and I can report from our experience, that there have been no long term negative effects! I don't remember them being "over the top" offensive. But, as many others said...you have to decide what is right for YOUR family. It can also be a teaching time of what is and is not acceptable to talk about in public, etc.
We haven't read any Captain Underpants at this point and my kids don't like to read Junie B (because of the weird grammar) but they like ME to read Junie B too them. I will add though that at this point I would let my 7 year old to read nearly ANYTHING. She generally dislikes reading although she does well and is slightly above grade level. But getting her to read (without threats, etc which I try not to do so that she won't always hate it) is a daily struggle for me. So if she wanted to read every Capt. Underpants and SpongeBob book ever made, I'd be racing to the store :lol: Rhonda C.
This reminds me of the old saying 'If you have to ask.....' There's another series called Walter the Farting Dog. I can't imagine what's in those books.
I'm with you! Those books are geared toward children who are still sorting out all the grammatical rules of English. Their growing minds have a remarkable ability to pick up the rules of the language simply by hearing it spoken correctly. Why purposefully expose them to writing that ignores those rules? As for Capt. Underpants, as long as he delivers his bodily functions-based puns without dangling his prepositiions, I'd let him in our home.
You aren't mixed up -- participles dangle too. Prepositions dangle when they are left hanging without an object of the preposition. Who are you going with? Or worse yet... Waitress: You want ketchup with? Patron: :shock: With WHAT? My sweater or my fries? I think the last example is a local phenomenon -- or at least I hope it is.
I may dislike bad grammer, but I am not a gramme guru like you! LOL. I need to brush up. I guess I only see the surface errors. I would recognize something wrong but knowing details...I have just forgotten. My kids are still on the easy stuff. lol. Oh and I thought about Captian Underpants this morning. My kids were laughing hysterically about my dd farting. LOL. My 2 year old was saying, "Olivia fart...yuck...Olivia farting." My innocent (yea, right.) toddler and son were laughing so hard! So ya see, if they read it or not...they just can't help laughing at any kind of bathroom humor. Now, my dh acts like I am trying to be all prudish because I find farting in general distasteful. Ok...the deal is this...when I hear that all that is going through my mind is that now I am breathing the same air that someone just farted in! Kinda like swimming in a pool someone peed in. lol. I feel the same about burps. lol. YUCK. (expect when I am the culprit, of course!)
