Captain Underpants and the inability of children to spell.?

Question

I'm the book mender at a local library, and a Captain Underpants book came across my bench yesterday. I decided to see what the hype was about and started reading a few pages. I was STUNNED!

I thought people bought books for children to help them learn how to read and spell.... this trash does neither!

Rather than use "their" in a sentence, such as "their powers" the author uses "there". Rather than "able", "abel". When else did a Biblical character make his debut in a secular children's illustrated novel? Tow dramatic errors in four pages of text.

Has the job of editor been eliminated from books for children?
Do authors not care that children learn how to read and write from the trash they spew?
Is there no sense of responsibility when writing for children?

For me, I think this may be the beginning of a crusade for better children's literature. Maybe it's time to start a column critiquing children's books.

It makes sense now why many people have problems spelling.

Lenjojo,

Did I say that it was ALL the fault of Captain Underpants? As far as anti-intellectualism, don't you think that isogesis might be a symptom as well?

In pointing out a book, I'm also pointing to the fact that parents aren't reading what their children read, and that if they do, they obviously don't care.

These books are a symptom of a larger problem. They prove that popular authors don't believe in decent language skills. They prove that parents don't care what their children read.

The books are a symptom, and a highly visible one, at least to those who care to read them.

Don't tell me to get real, as I'm pointing to the symptom of a real problem. If you wish to get real, do something other than critique those trying to point out the symptoms of the problem.

Answer 1

People no longer understand that knowledge is power. I have a thirty six year old daughter that works as a Secretary in a doctors office.She is a nice woman, but can't spell or punctuate worth spit. She just loves to write letters to her friends on the Internet and one day she had me read something that she had written, and I was floored by the poor quality of the writing. I tried to correct her on several mistakes that she had made and in response she said " people don't write like that anymore ". Personally I think that each generation has gotten lazier then the last and this laziness will eventually lead to our demise as a great nation.

Answer 2

I believe that the spelling mistakes in captain underpants books are on purpose. The books are supposed to include comics written by the two protagonists, who happen to be misbehaving children who enjoy acting out, not learning, in classes. Slightly similar, I'd say, to Coraline's story in the book 'Coraline'- only because it would be out of character for the young characters to have perfect spelling abilities.
Anyway, the captain underpants have been known as very successful childrens' books- they get children to read! Isn't that a good enough purpose?
But you do have a good point- it quite possibly might negatively impact spelling abilities to read these books. That might be interesting to find out more about!

Answer 3

I think it's horrible that people have such bad grammar and spelling. I realize people make typos, but a lot of it is simple laziness. Many people don't even use spell checkers; although they aren't perfect, they would be a start.

Books like this are ridiculous. I had heard there were complaints about the book, but I didn't pay any attention to them. I don't have children, but I wouldn't buy this book for them; I would want them to learn how to spell properly.

Answer 4

I think that society as a whole doesn't care as much about writing and spelling. Computers write and spell for us (not always well, however)!

We worked hard learning to write and spell! It just isn't stressed as much as it used to be. Now the thinking is that creativity is stifled when they have to worry about spelling and such.

But we do a disservice to our children if we do not make sure they can write and spell the old fashioned way. How else are they going to know if spell check is correct?

However, there are a lot of kids out there that CAN write and spell and I am sure they are just as offended as you are with those silly books. As for me, I'm offended by the title, "Captain Underpants" and would never buy it for my children.

Answer 5

You have the honor of being the first individual I have encountered to dislike the "Captain Underpants" series.
My fifth-grade daughter wrote a report comparing "Captain Underpants" by Dav Pilkey with "The Specialist" by Chick Sales. She was delighted to discover that bathroom humor was popular long before she was born.
Her spelling skills were not adversely affected.

Answer 6

Yes, it is clearly all Dav Pilkey's fault that children can't read or spell.

It has nothing to do with the fact that parents (in many cases) don't spend enough time with their children . . . or that taxpayers (in most cases) don't want to spend enough money on public schools or public libraries . . . or that, in general, our culture undervalues the child, and that anti-intellectualism is cool.

Get real.

BTW, I work at a library too.

Answer 7

As much as I hate crusades and crusaders I agree with you on this one. Fonetiks Suks. If you can handle doing a column on it and get it printed it might be a new career for you. I just hope reading all those poorly written children's books don't give you brain damage.

Answer 8

That's why it's called ENTERTAINMENT....

My son has read all of the books and they have not affected his grammar or spelling skills.

The books are funny to kids, and from my perspective, anything that gets a child reading (rather than playing video games) is a GOOD THING.