George and Harold are up to their old tricks again. Last time they hypnotized Principal Krupp into believing he was Captain Underpants. This time, they accidentally bring to life an army of carnivorous toilets and their evil boss, the tyrannical Turbo Toilet 2000. Can anyone save the school from the terrifying attack of the Talking Toilets? This looks like a job for Captain Underpants!

After Dav Pilkey got his first book published in 1987, he was invited to speak at to kids at hundreds of schools and libraries all over the Midwest. When Dav gave his presentations, he'd draw pictures and tell the story of the events that led up to him being an author and illustrator. But the most popular portion of Dav's presentation was when he would talk about writing his Captain Underpants comics. "I would start drawing a picture of this chubby super-hero looking guy, while I talked about creating my own comic books. Then I would tell my audience the name of the character I was drawing. When I said the words 'Captain Underpants', all the kids would burst out laughing. I'd draw the underwear and the cape, and the kids in the audience LOVED it! Finally, I'd mention the title of one of the comics I had created as a kid. It was called 'Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets'. When the kids heard that title, the room would EXPLODE with laughter!" — Dav Pilkey After Dav's presentations, he'd ask the kids if they had any questions. Inevitably, the first question would be "Are you going to write a book about Captain Underpants?" Another question Dav always got (which wasn't really a question) was: "You should write a book about the Attack of the Talking Toilets!". Just the mention of those silly toilets would get everybody laughing again. So several years later, Dav finally did write a book about Captain Underpants. After the book came out, Dav began working on a sequel. There was no question in his mind what the title of that second book HAD to be!

1. Dav actually did write a comic book called "Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets" when he was in the third grade. It was about an evil scientist who created a potion which brought things to life. The scientist got scared and flushed the dangerous potion down some toilets (hoping to get rid of it). But instead, it brought the toilets to life. This simple comic book story was the inspiration for this "Epic Novel" AND for the comic book "Hairy Potty and the Underwear of Justice" which appears in The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book O' Fun. 2. Sadly, most of Dav's childhood comic books no longer exist. Many were ripped up by his teachers, and others were "borrowed" by his friends. Dav's friends would take the comics home and lose them, or bring them back weeks later with pages missing. The only comics that Dav still has are the ones he made for his parents in the mid 1970's. Dav's parents didn't care for potty humor, so he wrote about three "non-offensive" super heroes called "Water Man", "Molecule Man" and "Mr. Shape-O". Watch for these guys to re-appear as very offensive villains in future "Super Diaper Baby" books. 3. You might notice a theme in George and Harold's comic books: the gym teacher always gets attacked by the villains, but nobody seems to care. This theme reoccurs because many of* Dav Pilkey's former gym teachers were REALLY, REALLY MEAN to him. So let this be a lesson to gym teachers all over the world: be nice to your students, or some day they might grow up and get revenge by making fun of you in their epic novels! (*Note: Dav's lawyer told him to use the phrase "many of" ). 4. The term "Invention Convention" was coined by Dav's Uncle Peter. Peter Pilkey** is a retired school teacher from Berea, Ohio, who used to host an "Invention Convention" at his school every year. (**Note: Despite popular speculation, Dav's uncle Peter has never had anything to do with a peck of pickled peppers). 5. At the end of Dav's first draft of the story, George and Harold created a giant robot urinal named "The Urinator". Dav's girlfriend read the draft and said, "You'll never get away with that in a children's book! You're skating on thin ice as it is!". So Dav changed "the Urinator" to the "Incredible Robo-Plunger". But he used his girlfriend's warning on page 106 (that line always gets a laugh from the grown-ups).

• Rescue Raider 4000 • Bounce-O-Rama 2000 • Splashernator 2000 • Matchinator 4000 • Pilkeymon's Paintbox • Dav Pilkey's Puzzles o' Plenty Click here for pictures you can print out and color! • Difficult Schmifficult