Tuesday 3 March 2020

DAV PILKEY March's Author by Sharon Tregenza


DAV PILKEY






Dav Pilkey was born on March 4th 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, US. His father (David, Sr.) was a steel salesman and his mother (Barbara) was an organist at the local church. 
His clowning around regularly got him into trouble at school and more than one teacher didn't appreciate his sense of humour.

A diagnosis of ADHD and Dyslexia didn't help and he was often sent out of the class to work alone in the hall when he was disruptive. It was here he developed his talent for writing stories and drawing cartoons. 




"I used to staple sheets of paper together and make my own books. I invented a whole bunch of super heroes, including 'The Amazing Captain Underpants.'



In 1984, he attended Kent State University as an art major. One of Dav's professors complimented him on his creative writing skills, and suggested he wrote children's books. 

Dav learned about a contest for students who write and illustrate their own books. The winners got their work published. So he began creating his first book, World War Won, and entered it. A year later Dav had won the contest and was flying to Kansas City, Missouri to meet the editors and publishers at Landmark Editions, Inc.

Dav Pilkey's career had begun.







Five interesting facts about Dav Pilkey:

1. He changed the spelling of his name while working at Pizza Hut when the e was accidentally left off his name on his name tag. 

2. He has written books under pen-names including George Beard, Harold Hutchins and Sue Denim.

3. One of his favourite books is 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

4. His first book was called World War Won and it was about a fox and a racoon.

5. His Captain Underpants series has sold more than 80 million copies.

2 comments:

Anne Booth said...

Wow! How interesting! How brilliant he became so successful. Thank you for sharing.

Sue Purkiss said...

Interesting background! Thanks, Sharon.