Wants the original series
Begin with The Adventures of Captain Underpants, book #1, and continue in numbered order.
Book Series · 12 Books
Captain Underpants Books
In order from The Adventures of Captain Underpants to Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot.
George and Harold's school pranks accidentally bring their homemade superhero to life in a fast-moving series packed with cartoons, Flip-O-Rama action, and gleefully ridiculous villains. These are illustrated chapter books rather than traditional graphic novels.
Reviewed by the Bookroo Editors Updated
Reading order
How to Read the Captain Underpants Books
Start with The Adventures of Captain Underpants and follow Scholastic's numbered order through The Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot. The jokes and adventures are easy to enter, but recurring villains, time-travel problems, and character doubles make publication order the clearest path.
The First Epic Manga tells the story of book #1 again with new manga artwork by Motojiro. A child can choose that version instead of the original opening book; it is not book #13.
The Epic Tales books are comic readers based on the animated television series. Super Diaper Baby follows a superhero created by George and Harold. Both are optional offshoots rather than required stops in the numbered story.
Sources: Scholastic's official Captain Underpants list, Scholastic's First Epic Manga announcement.
For parents
What Parents Should Know
Expect abundant toilet humor, underwear jokes, name-calling, rule-breaking, pranks, and conflict with an angry school principal. Villains, robots, monsters, explosions, and comic transformations create frequent peril, but the action is exaggerated and silly rather than realistic or gory.
The books combine short chapters, cartoons, comic inserts, and animated-looking Flip-O-Rama pages. That variety can make a long-looking book feel manageable for children who enjoy visual humor or are still building confidence with chapter books.
Where to start
Where Should My Child Start?
Choose between the original illustrated chapter book and its full-color manga retelling.
Enjoyed the animated show
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants books adapt television episodes into short comic readers.
Where the story begins
First Book in the Series
Sale price
$999
Book #1 · Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 1997
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
By Dav Pilkey
Two fourth-grade pranksters hypnotize their principal and accidentally turn him into a superhero.
144 pages· 6,198 words· Est. 52 min read
Hardcover
Summary: George and Harold, mischievous fourth graders, accidentally turn their principal into Captain Underpants, a superhero from their comics. Chaos ensues as they confront the villainous Dr. Diaper and his robot minions. Can they save the day and restore normalcy before it's too late?
Main series · 12 illustrated novels
Captain Underpants
12 books · Published 1997–2015
Follow George, Harold, and their accidental superhero in the publisher's numbered order. These prose chapter books contain plentiful cartoons but are not graphic-novel adaptations.
#1
Sale price
$999
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 1997
Two fourth-grade pranksters hypnotize their principal and accidentally turn him into a superhero.
#2
Sale price
$999
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 1999
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally create an army of evil talking toilets that threaten to take over the world.
#3
Sale price
$1248
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds)
Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 1999
Alien lunch ladies threaten the school. Can Captain Underpants save the day?
#4
Sale price
$999
Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants
Chapter Book · Ages 6–10 · 2000
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally create a superhero when they hypnotize their mean principal, who then battles a variety of villains, including a mad scientist and a giant robot.
#5
Sale price
$999
Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman
Chapter Book · Ages 6–10 · 2001
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally hypnotize their mean teacher, turning her into a supervillain.
#6
Sale price
$999
Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets
Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 2003
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally create a bionic hamster that wreaks havoc on their school, leading to a series of misadventures and a showdown with their nemesis, Melvin Sneedly
#7
Sale price
$999
Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers
Chapter Book · Ages 6–10 · 2003
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally switch the brains of their mean principal and a nerdy classmate using a machine called the Combine-O-Tron 2000.
#8
Sale price
$958
Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People
Chapter Book · Ages 7–9 · 2006
Two fourth-grade pranksters travel through time and space, causing chaos and mayhem wherever they go.
#9
Sale price
$1248
Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2012
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally hypnotize their mean principal and turn him into a superhero.
#10
Sale price
$1248
Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers
Chapter Book · Ages 7–9 · 2013
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally travel back in time and must find a way to return to their own time.
#11
Sale price
$1248
Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2014
Two fourth-grade pranksters accidentally travel through time and must find a way back to their own time.
#12
Sale price
$1248
Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot
Chapter Book · Ages 7–9 · 2015
Two fourth-grade pranksters must stop their gym teacher from taking over the world with his mind-control formula
Animated-series comic readers
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants
4 books · Published 2019–2023
Short, full-color stories based on episodes of the Netflix animated series rather than sequels to Dav Pilkey's twelve novels.
#1
#1 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$958
George and Harold's Epic Comix Collection Vol. 1 (Graphic Novel)
Chapter Book · Ages 7–10 · 2019
Join Captain Underpants in battling new villains in hilarious comic adventures.
#2
#2 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$574
The Horrifyingly Haunted Hack-A-Ween (Graphic Novel)
Chapter Book · Ages 6–8 · 2020
Can George and Harold save Halloween with their Hack-A-Ween plan against Mr. Krupp's ban?
#3
#3 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$674
The Xtreme Xploits of the Xplosive Xmas (Graphic Novel)
Chapter Book · Ages 6–8 · 2021
Can Captain Underpants save Christmas from the chaos of Blissmas?
#4
#4 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$759
The Maniacal Mischief of the Marauding Monsters (Graphic Novel)
Chapter Book · Ages 6–8 · 2023
Ghost dentist and T.P. mummy threaten Halloween. Can Captain Underpants save the day?
George and Harold's comic-book spin-off
Super Diaper Baby
2 books · Published 2002–2011
Two graphic adventures about another homemade superhero created by George and Harold. They can be read separately from the numbered Captain Underpants story.
#1
#1 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$958
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
Chapter Book · Ages 7–9 · 2002
A diaper-clad hero battles a villain aiming to steal his powers and conquer Earth. Can he save the day?
#2
#2 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$958
The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers
Chapter Book · Ages 7–9 · 2011
A villain vows to destroy toilets. Can Super Diaper Baby save the day?
Alternate version of book one
The First Epic Manga
1 book · Published 2026
Dav Pilkey and manga artist Motojiro retell the first Captain Underpants adventure in a new full-color graphic format.
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$1398
The First Epic Manga
Chapter Book · 2026
A superhero in underwear battles absurdity and chaos.
Good to know
Common Questions
How many books are in the Captain Underpants series?
There are 12 books in the Captain Underpants series. It began with The Adventures of Captain Underpants in 1997, and the newest book, Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot, was published in 2015.
What order should you read the Captain Underpants books in?
Start with The Adventures of Captain Underpants and follow the series order — the books above are numbered #1 through #12.
What ages are the Captain Underpants books best for?
The series is best for ages 6–11, based on the age ranges of the individual books.
Which Captain Underpants book is the longest?
Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (Book #9) is the longest book in the series at 18,260 words (304 pages).
Which Captain Underpants book is the shortest?
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (Book #3) is the shortest at 5,803 words (160 pages).
The people
The Creative Behind the Books
The people who bring Captain Underpants to life.
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