Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000

Captain Underpants #11

by Dav Pilkey

When the Incredible Robo-Plunger defeated the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, George and Harold thought their toilet troubles were over. Unfortunately, their porcelain problems were only beginning . . .Just when you thought it was safe to flush . . .The Turbo Toilet 2000 strikes back! The carnivorous commode known for devouring everything in its path has built up a real appetite . . . for REVENGE! Join Captain Underpants for another epic showdown of Wedgie Power vs. Potty Power as our tighty-whitey-wearing superhero GOES TO ELEVEN!

Genres: Humor, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Chapter Books, Middle Grade

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2014

About the author

David "Dav" Pilkey (b. March 4, 1966), is a popular children's author and artist. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, Sayuri.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You're thinking too much. Listen, if you look too closely at these stories, they're gonna fall apart completely. Whaddya think this is, Shakespeare?!!?"

Ironically enough, Shakespeare has quite a few loopholes.



And down the rabbit hole we go...

I remember coming to Canada and absolutely hating, detesting reading because it was so goddamn frustrating trying to learn a new language. And then these books came along and I thought it was the best thing, right up there with bagged milk. We have pictures, words spelled phonetically, and a plot line even my 7 year old self thought as ridiculous.

Then I promptly dropped this series and tackled Harry Potter.

But some stories do stay with you forever, don't they?

There is a certain fondness I associate with Captain Underpants and Magic Tree House and the Magic School Bus. They are for children, and the authors don't try to make them anything else. There is no great literary value, no pretentious coverup. They have realized that the point of reading is to have FUN. To create this environment for kids where if they are looked at funny by their peers and asked "you're reading? what's so good about reading?" they can respond "here, let me show you." and pull up a flip-o-rama or show some pictures of Cap defeating the bad toilet monster. It's silly, filled with juvenile humour, very little plot, and makes absolutely no sense if looked at too closely. But it's pure entertainment for a reluctant reader.

Which is why these will always be 5 star worthy.

***I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe the most jaw-dropping of the titles in the series so far, this book ties the events of the previous 10 books into one action-packed, non-stop, thrill-ride.

A recap brings readers up to date with the plot thus far and then dives into George and Harold's near separation when Mr. Krupp finally devises the perfect plan to split the duo up. He decides to alter the way grades are gathered and fiendishly plots to fail one of the friends while sending the other on to fifth grade.

Not be outsmarted, George and Harold mess around with a time machine to foil Mr. Krupp's plan which allows for a duo of Yesterday George and Harold to add chaos and confusion to the story.

There's a lot to keep track of here plot-wise (especially with the old villains and their vengeance quests) and there's tons of butt-shots (hence the jaw-dropping). In Pilkey's world all adults have weird secret desires in their dreams...

Recommended for grades 4-8.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dav Pilkey's humor in his Captain Underpants books has always been about subverting the rules. From the title on down, he's mined the immense amusement in mentioning unmentionables and shared the mischievous joy of getting away with those things we ought not to do. And, while the potty humor is certainly an essential element, the books have never rested solely on it, as Pilkey's genius has been in extending that spirit to the flaunting of all convention in general. Just as central, for instance, has been the undermining of adults undeserving of their authority because they only use it to bully. He allows his young, still-learning characters to write with authentically poor spelling and grammar, and he laughs at the idea of stories needing internal logic and consistency.

In this book, more than ever, Pilkey has fun subverting the rules of storytelling itself with an unending stream of self-aware meta-references.

Chapter 2, for instance, opens with: Somewhere in the deepest, darkest reaches of our solar system, a red, rubber kickball was zooming through space. None of Earth's scientists could explain where it had come from, or why it was racing toward Uranus, but it had been on its present course for the past five and a half books, and nothing could stop it. The chapter closes with: The only thing left to do was travel the long journey from Uranus to Earth. It was a voyage that would take him nearly three whole pages. The duration of space travel is not measured in time in this universe, but in storytelling convenience.

Smaller, simple turns of phrase show the same sensibility. On one page Pilkey sympathetically refers to the surface of the icy, ridiculously named planet, then a mere two pages later reverses course and takes advantage of it with: that bleak night on the terribly gassy surface of Uranus. When characters are worried about time-travel overlap issues, he solves it with: and before you could say "convoluted plotline," it disappeared into the noontime haze.

Chapter 6 is titled, "Sanitized for Your Protection." It begins: Unfortunately, the epic fight that followed was WAY too violent and disturbing to appear in a children's book. The images and descriptions would just be too terrifying. You'd have nightmares for weeks, trust me. So I have invited a guest illustrator, Timmy Swanson (age four) to draw the action in a style that won't depict too much graphic detail. I've also asked his nana, Gertrude (age seventy-one), to describe the scene in her own, gentle vocabulary.

Chapter 22 is the full, complete comic book that George and Harold write/draw to sell as a money making scheme.

And, just to make sure readers don't take too seriously the rule that this series is about the ridiculous adventures of two slackers, a key central portion of this book is concerned with George and Harold's efforts to study hard and make it to school on time to pass tests so that they don't flunk third grade. (But don't worry, that section devolves into the school's teachers running around the school in their underthings.)

In Dav Pilkey's stories, the only true rule is that stories must be fun.

"Are you still trying to figure out how we ended up with three half-pterodactyl, half-bionic-hamster pets?" asked George.

"Yeah, sort of," Harold replied.

"You're thinking too much," said George. "Listen, if you look too closely at these stories, they're gonna fall apart completely. Whaddya think this is, Shakespeare?!!?"

"I guess you're right," said Harold.

"Of course I'm right," said George. "Just go with it, man."

[books are love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my gosh! I love this one more than the first time Turbo Toilet came on the scene. Here Melvin is placed in Harold and George's shoes and realizes the grass isn't greener on the other side. Mr. Krupp is thwarted again by George and Harold thanks to Melvin's invention and we see Harold being the more pensive one as George wants to be mischievous.

When we have the little interlude with Timmy and his grandma what a hoot. This whole book is a ball of fun entertainment. I laughed so hard I cried. George and Harold keep bringing fun and levity into the stories with their antics. The end with the cross sulu pterodactyl creatures and George's reaction to much. Oh and the teachers' dream responses to George and Harold a stitch in the side laugh.

If you are looking for a getaway from life or trying to find a way for your children to enjoy a book Captain Underpants is it. They are light and fun but so entertaining. George and Harold will crack you up. I read my niece one and now she is hooked and getting her friends hooked as well. The school librarian for her school can't keep them on the shelf! This latest adventure is just as fun and exciting. I didn't think I would see Turbo toilet again but man did he have a beef. And poor Melvin being flushed in Turbo toilet ewwww.....

A great fun entertaining book that has George and Harold coming back from the future to battle Turbo toilet and Mr. Krupp..

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I've read every single one since they first came out and I'm never disappointed. Even as a college student I still love these books. You just don't outgrow good potty humor! Or good humor and imagination in general. This book had me laughing out loud several times and I thoroughly enjoye dit. I read it in one sitting, so its a pretty quick read, but its worth every little second because its so well written. It may not be Shakespeare, but I've had enough of Shakespeare for now, being an English major. Sometimes its more fun to put a little Pilkey into your reading diet. His books never cease to entertain me.

[Melissa Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are almost to the end. The second to the last book of Captain Underpants. In this book Melvin Sneedly becomes a superhero, The Turbo Toilet 2000 returns and George and Harold make another mistake. "Here we go again!" I'm giving this one 4 stars because it was pretty funny.

I love that in each book there is a quick recap of what has happened so far because with all the villains I've read about sometimes it gets confusing. To catch you all up to date, the Turbo Toilet 2000 was flown to Uranus by Robo Plunger where he has been with them on guard ever since. When the Wedgie Woman was our villain she made two robots that looked like George and Harold, Robo Harold kicked a kick ball so hard it went into outer space. In the last book Melvin Sneedly rescues George and Harold from the past. George and Harold don't understand why Melvin saves them. He hates them! We find out that it was out of necessity and not because he was being kind.

My favorite part of the book was flip-o-rama created by Timmy a four year old. He's drawings are super cute and his Nana's commentary (she's seventy-one) is hilarious.

I'm going to miss their shenanigans. Onward to book 12.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed first at Brunner's Bookshelf

I'm always digging through Net Galley to find comics and books that I really want to read in hopes of being selected for a review. I also enjoy looking through what is available from Scholastic. Now that I am only working one amazing job I am home in the evenings and can read to my kids again. I love looking for books that I think my son will like. I have seen these books for years and always thought it might be worth reading. Now that my son is almost 5 I figured now would be a good time to start. Scholastic and NetGalley were kind enough to allow me to read this to my son and review it here.

Now I don't recommend starting here in the series. There is a lot that happens before this that kind of leaves gaps in the story, but for the most part there was plenty of explanation as to who everyone is and how things got going. This book is one solid story, but the way it is told it almost feels like two stories in one. At the very beginning everything happens so quickly, then things shift and it is like staring the book all over again with a new story. It all ties together in the end.

I liked this and so did my son. There is a lot of toilet humor (I know, Shocking right) which is exactly what a 4 year old boy loves. There is quite the vocabulary in these books and I don't mean the potty talk, but they actually have some adult words through out the book to help teach kids a bigger vocabulary. The one problem I had with this book was the comic flip book scenes. Really that is more my fault and I can't complain about it really. If you have the paper back version then there are sections that play out like a flip book. Having it as a digital ebook you are not able to do that.

The little action scenes in this book are funny and some of the word play is clever. My son doesn't quite understand it but it gives the adults who read these to there children a little laugh. Even my wife who wasn't really listening as I read this would laugh from time to time.

This was a cute book and we both had some fun reading it. My son is already asking when we can read more Captain Underpants. My wife told me that while I was at work he came running out of his room in his own underpants with a shirt around his neck like a cap shouting I am captain underpants. Wish I could have been home to see that. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first introduction to the Captain Underpants series. I am always looking for new books that my nephews can read. Well this book is book and I am sure other books in this series would be fine but there were a few issues I had with this book that make me glad I checked it out first. Some of the jokes luckily are above my nephews heads at this moment so they won't get it. Then there was the part where the teachers thought they were dreaming so they stripped down to their underwear. I don't really need my nephews seeing women in their bras and underwear. I know they will see it soon enough but for now I want them to see be boys and just enjoy reading. I can picture them asking me questions about things in this book. Although on the flip side I liked the illustrations. Plus it was kind of like there were several mini stories all rolled into one big story. Another thing is that I was hoping to laugh my butt off reading this book and this did not happen. Yet, I did like this book and would check out more in this series.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desternillante. Me río tanto como mis peques cuando lo leo -lo que seguramente no diga mucho de mi capacidad intelectual.

¡Ojo spoilers!

Momentos de gran imaginación: Cuando la pelea es tan monstruosa y horripilante que en vez de dibujarla el autor se 'invita' a un niño pequeño y su abuela para que dibujen y narren, respectivamente, los acontecimientos.
Cuando al haber dos copias de los protagonistas convencen a los profesores de que todo es un sueño y todos se despelotan y hacen una fiesta de la espuma en el colegio. Para morirse.

[Katherine Schmitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the Monty Python reference, with a horrible pun.

[Cairo Duran]

I love this book I have reading when I was little.

[Jillyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy nostalgia, Batman. I used to gobble these books up when I was in elementary school. I hadn't even known they were still being written. That is, until I saw it listed on Netgalley. Though I tried to resist it, I had to give it a click. I'm happy to say, that this is every bit like I remembered.

The Captain Underpants series chronicles two boys' adventures alongside their elementary school principal, who thanks to a bit of hypnotism turns into the superhero Captain Underpants at the snap of fingers. Of course, this only lasts until he is doused in water, and then he turns back into their grumpy old principal.

This is a great read for elementary school age children. I'd recommend it more for boys than girls, but of course that's just opinion. This book will make any kid who is still young enough to appreciate toilet humor giggle out loud. The illustrations are great and the text fairly easy. If evil turbo toilets, time traveling squid space suits, and a pudgy man running around with his waistband utility belt in his underwear, saving the world sound like a good time, then this is the book for you.

It was a bit confusing at first, I admit, since I haven't read a large chunk of the books since the time I was a kid. While I recommend that you read them in order, you can dive in at this point too- just be a bit patient at the beginning.

Thanks for the blast from the past, Scholastic and Netgalley, who provided me with a copy in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

My son has been bringing this series home from the school library and we have been reading them before bed most nights. He absolutely adores them. He gives this one 4 stars (ok, originally he said 5, but then went on about how the beginning was slow and the end was awesome - so I took it down a star to reflect that).

I hold to my one star rating as I'm not really a fan of the series and this one is a bit of a muddled mess.

[William Dawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really cool because an enemy from the past has came for revenge.I like made up stories because they are funny.I recommend this book to people who like made up stories. This book is on of the best book i every read in my life.

[Matthew Zelayandia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really cool because an enemy from the past has came for revenge.I like made up stories because they are funny.I recommend this book to people who like made up stories.

[Rekha · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books really can be read out of order. We read the first and now this one. I don’t think the “plot” would’ve made more sense had we read the intervening 9 books. It ends on a cliffhanger, for lack of better word.

I do NOT recommend these books but smalls like them unfortunately. Especially the “flip o rama” parts. However, some of the language is more appropriate probably for older elementary schoolers. There’s a few paragraphs that allude to a hamster and a pterodactyl procreating and several instances of teachers running around in their underwear (not just captain underpants but other characters, too). Also, a random depiction of a mental asylum. Mentions of skipping school, too, and lying to parents.

One thing that might surprise people is there really isn’t “bathroom” humor in these. Like the word toilet and flush gets brought up a lot but there’s not any talk about poop or anything like that.

I’d say these books are for age 9 and up. If you read it out loud to younger kids, you may want to edit some of it while you read it, which I did for my four year old.

[Kelly (Little.shropshire.reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 7 year old son and I read this together over the last few days. What fun it was. He laughed at me, trying to pronounce some of the words, I laughed at him, finding silly things funny.

In the same format as all the other books in this series, George, Harold, and Captain Underpants in another fast-paced, we-need-to-save-the-planet from an attack from a giant talking robotic toilet!

This book is a funny, crazy ride of a story that is very much entertaining.

[Nikos Katopodis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο είναι τέλειο για αυτό του έβαλα 5 αστέρια. Το βιβλίο έχει κάποιες χάλια ζωγραφιές αλλά είναι αστείες
Έχει επίσης δράση, τρόμο και γέλιο. Το περίεργο σε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι το εξώφυλλο που ο καπετάν Βράκας είναι μέσα στο στόμα του καμπινέ 2000. Επίσης έχει ένα απόσπασμα από το 5ο τεύχος του Καπετάν Βράκα.
Πρέπει να το αγοράσετε.

[M Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

George and Harold travel through time to yesterday and they accidentally make another time machine and another George and Harold which then they start making pranks using both yesterday George and Harold and today George and Harold they make teachers at their school think they're dreaming and then the teachers take their clothes off like they can do anything.

[Daniel Flores]

The book captain underpants and the retalation of the Turbo Toilet 2,000 by Dav Pilkey was a pretty great book, the book was filled with action adventure laughs and thrills. The book is about two kids named Harold Hutchins and George Beard and they have a mean principal named Mr. Krupp and they hipnitized him and made him think he was a super hero called Captain Underpants ever since then they went on funny and cool adventures. But in this book they have to finish off an old foe that they had in the past will Captain Underpants an George and Harold be able to defeat the old foe? It is a really funny book I hope you read the book and I hope you enjoy the book to. I also recommend this book from 2nd grade to 7th grade I hope you read the book soon and I hope you enjoy reading the book to thank you

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

These paradoxes are quite ridiculous! If George and Harold don't go back in time to take the tests they missed, then how did they go back and take the tests? Mind boggling.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course my son loved this one. Seeing him remembering elements from previous nights of reading has me excited. I’m doomed for when this series ends…

[Charlie]

this one was niche you never got this one in the primary school library

[Yasaman Arjmandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read it to my 6-year old brother, he loves it
he likes these funny boys

[Ava Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book!

[Josef Komensky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit keer leren wij kennen Gorge en Harold van gisteren en drie schattige Hamsterdactilusen

[Aaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Samuel Lesser · Rating 5 out of 5]

The toilet on the cover is not in all of the book. A lot of it is without him. So, if you are thinking that guy will be in the whole book don’t be too disappointed.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

[Swankivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Captain Underpants. You know, these are still very entertaining sometimes, especially when the text itself is aware of its ridiculousness ("and before you could say 'convoluted plotline,' it disappeared into the noontime haze"). And I like that it keeps up the trend of throwing in advanced vocabulary words that can be sort of understood by younger kids because they're in context. But there were a few things that kept me from enjoying this one as much as I liked the others.

One, I liked them better when each adventure was self-contained and I don't have to remember things like where those eggs came from and who tried to destroy the town when (which becomes more important when you're dealing with silly time-travel devices). Two, some of the random crap that happens felt more like random crap happening than an overall story that happened to be silly. And three, two aspects made me sort of uncomfortable: A several-chapter scenario in which teachers stripped off their clothes and ran around in their underwear, and repeated references to "the goof house" (the book's term for an institution for mentally ill people).

The teachers' partial nudity happened because Harold and George convinced them all they were dreaming (and apparently if you're dreaming, the thing you long to do is remove your clothes immediately and cavort with other teachers, playing slip-n-slide in the school). This is hard to explain, but I'll try: First off, it's pretty common for kids to mock their teachers for being fat or ugly, and the concept of seeing them partially naked is usually expressed like "ewwwwww ugh fat ugly gross old people, DISGUSTING!!" In other words, it's like portrayed as self-evident that adults' bodies are gross if they're not models, especially if they're overweight, which is used as shorthand for making a character whose body inspires a revolted reaction from someone else. I'm pretty sure every teacher running around in underwear was drawn fat, and the children (as well as the reader) are supposed to be disgusted. I think it was a poor choice.

The "lol something traumatizing happened to someone and they got shipped off to the nuthouse" trope is used as a joke in a LOT of stories, and that's also kind of awful, especially since they trivialized it by calling it the goof house. I know it's just a silly cartoon book, but people really do get institutionalized over trauma or mental illness, and if it happened in your family or to your friend and a book made light of it, that would be difficult to explain or accept. It's a message I'd like to see way less of in cartoons and kids' books.

However, the book also had some of the stuff I always loved about Captain Underpants--the silly flip-o-rama violence, the ridiculous adults, the relationship between Harold and George as school mischief-makers and best friends, and of course Captain Underpants himself. My favorite bit was the middle of the book when Harold and George create time clones of themselves and then have to deal with interacting with each other, taking tests, and managing the reality of having extra kids to feed while hiding this from their parents. The callbacks to other books were also sort of funny, like the return of the Turbo Toilet and Melvin Sneedly acquiring superpowers from Mr. Krupp's toenail through a complex process of DNA extraction.