Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants

Professor Pippy P. Poopypants is laughed out of every institution in America because of his name, and his revenge plan — forcing the whole town to adopt silly names, then shrinking the school — is exactly the kind of absurd villain logic that has made this series a genuine gateway drug for reluctant readers. Dav Pilkey's fourth Captain Underpants book is fast, funny, and sneaks in a real point about the cruelty of name-calling through the villain's origin story. Parents who prefer books without toilet humor and mild anti-authority pranks should know those elements are central, not incidental. But for a child who claims to hate reading, this is a genuinely effective cure.