Meet the artist: Dav Pilkey

Megan Kaesshaefer  //  Nov 25, 2013

Meet the artist: Dav Pilkey

This week, we continue our celebration of The Art of Read Every Day with the artwork of children's book author and illustrator, Dav Pilkey. (Heard of him? Yea, I thought so.) 

Dav Pilkey is the acclaimed creator of the bestselling Captain Underpants series, which has more than 50 million books in print. Pilkey is also the author/illustrator of numerous popular and award-winning books for children, including the Ricky Ricotta series and The Paperboy, a Caldecott Honor Book. He's also teamed up with Jeff Kinney on "Story Smashup," a classroom webcast coming in January. 

Dav is a hero around here. Not only does he make children and adults laugh out loud with his Captain Underpants books, he also sends us incredible videos he's made at home (Reading Makes Cats Jealous, Reading Gives You Superpowers) and is constantly on the road visiting schools and delighted fans. 

Dav's artwork for our Art of Read Every Day campaign really says it all. True to his signature style of illustration, this artwork is colorful, lively, and playful. He wanted to focus his piece on the importance of togetherness, so he featured Super Diaper baby and his dad reading together. "Almost everything is more fun if you do it with someone you care about," he says. We agree, Dav.

Visit the collection and you'll discover a video of Dav sketching and painting this artwork (with his pet beetle!), a free downloadable poster, and companion Common Core-ready discussion guides (grades K-2 and 3-5). 

Enjoy!

Original art by Dav Pilkey.