Dav Pilkey was born on March 4th, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a salesman, his mother an organist at church, and his older sister a skilled tattletale. "I was almost always happy. My parents tell me that I used to laugh in my sleep all the time. When I wasn't laughing, I kept myself busy by drawing. Life was pretty cool when I was little . . . and then school started."
After spending most of kindergarten in the principal's office, Dav was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. By first grade he was universally recognized as the class clown. He still holds the record for the number of crayons he can stick up his nose at one time!
In elementary school: "I remember one teacher who used to rip up my books and tell me I'd better start taking life more seriously, because I couldn't spend the rest of my days making silly books. Fortunately, I wasn't a very good listener." In high school: "One day my principal took me out of class and said to me, 'I know you think you're special because you can draw, but let me tell you something: artists are a-dime-a-dozen. You will NEVER make a living as an artist!' Those words haunted me for many years. How delightful it was to prove him wrong."
Dav Pilkey went to Kent State University as an art major. One of his professors complimented him on his creative writing skills, and encouraged him to write books. "When I was a kid making silly books out in the hall, I never dreamed that one day I'd be making silly books for a living. The coolest thing is that I used to get in trouble for being the class clown . . . and now it's my job!"
Today, he is best known for his Adventures of Captain Underpants, but he is the author and illustrator of many other books, including Dogzilla and Dog Breath..
