Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers facts for kids
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| Author | Dav Pilkey |
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| Illustrator | Dav Pilkey |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Captain Underpants series |
| Genre | Children's novel, comic science fiction |
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Publication date
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August 28, 2012 (black and white) December 10, 2019 (full color) |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 9780545175340 |
| Preceded by | Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People |
| Followed by | Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers |
Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers is an exciting children's novel from 2012. It's the ninth book in the popular Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey. This book came out six years after the one before it.
In this story, we learn more about Tippy Tinkletrousers, who was actually Professor Poopypants from an earlier book. The book explains how Tippy ended up in the eighth book. It also shares a fun prequel story about how George and Harold became best friends in kindergarten, showing their lives before Captain Underpants appeared!
Contents
The Story of Tippy's Return
Tippy Tinkletrousers has traveled back in time from the future. In the last book, George and Harold were arrested. They were blamed for things their future selves did. So, they, along with Mr. Krupp, ended up in jail.
At the Piqua State Penitentiary, Tippy is asked to build a statue. This statue is secretly a giant robot suit for Warden Gordon, the prison's chief. When Tippy shows off his robot suit, he freezes everyone in his path. He then takes Mr. Krupp to find George and Harold.
The boys quickly snap their fingers, bringing Captain Underpants to life! Captain Underpants tries to stop Tippy. While trying to freeze Captain Underpants, Tippy accidentally freezes his own robot legs. Captain Underpants pulls off the top part of the robot suit. But Tippy escapes by going back in time, about five years into the past.
George and Harold's Kindergarten Days
Five-year-old George has just moved from Michigan. His mom makes him wear a tie for a good first impression at school. On his way, he sees six-year-old Harold being picked on by Kipper and his friends. A mean gas station owner, Billy Bill, is even encouraging them.
George gets angry and plays a clever prank on Billy Bill. He changes the gas station sign from "Free Brake Inspection" to "Free Bra Inspection." This makes a group of upset women attack the owner! George then saves Harold, and they become the best of friends. Mr. Krupp arrives and gives them detention for "bullying Kipper." To pass the time, they create their very first comic: The Adventures of Dog Man.
George and Harold watch Kipper for a week. Then, they switch his padlock with one of their own. They replace his stolen lunch money with girly items like friendship bracelets and dolls. They also send strange texts to Kipper's friends. They leave a note signed by "Wedgie Magee."
Kipper eventually figures out their tricks. The next day, he and his gang steal pizzas George and Harold bought for the kindergartners. This makes the two friends furious. They plan another big prank on the bullies. First, they fill the bullies' lockers with shaving cream. They pretend it's ghost juice.
This works at first, but Principal Krupp points out the "ghost juice" came from the door vents. Kipper and his friends get even angrier. They start bothering the kindergartners for answers. They even steal more pizzas. But George and Harold had planned this! They ordered the pizzas with double ghost chili peppers. These are the hottest chili peppers from Piqua Pizza Palace.
The peppers make the bullies' tongues burn badly. They all get sent to the nurse's office. George and Harold then create a comic. It tells the story of Wedgie Magee and the signs of his curse. All the signs match their pranks!
After Kipper and his gang "see" the ghost (which is George on stilts in giant pants), they run outside in terror. It's during a big thunderstorm and power outage. In the original timeline, they would apologize and never bully again. But Tippy arrives in the past at this exact moment. His robot looks a lot like the ghost of Wedgie Magee. This makes the four bullies go completely crazy from fear.
Because of this, the police blame Principal Krupp for the bullies' behavior. Even though no charges are filed, he loses his job permanently. Tippy then travels four years back into the future. He thinks the kids from five years ago were strange.
However, Mr. Krupp was supposed to become Captain Underpants when George and Harold were in 4th grade. Since he lost his job, this creates a problem in time. A new universe is made where Captain Underpants never existed! Tippy arrives in the present. He finds Earth is a burning wasteland. It's full of talking toilets and giant evil zombie nerds. Tippy realizes he must go back again to save Earth. But then, George and Harold, now giant zombie nerds, squash Tippy. Only a red stain is left of him.
Comics from the Book
The Adventures of Dog Man
One day, a police officer and his trained dog, Greg, find a bomb. They are badly hurt when it explodes. The doctor says Greg's body and the cop's head are dying. Luckily, doctors sew Greg's head onto the cop's body. Everyone calls this new hero "Dog Man."
Dog Man catches bad guys with his amazing nose. He hears crimes with his ears. He stops criminals with his strong fists. Petey, a cat who used to work for a villain, sees Dog Man's weakness. He invents an evil vacuum robot. This robot steals all the money from the bank. Dog Man tries to stop it, but the vacuum chases him. Dog Man gets cornered. He thinks he's finished. But the vacuum robot suddenly unplugs and stops! Dog Man follows its cord to Petey's secret hideout. Dog Man arrests Petey. Dog Man celebrates his victory with his fellow police officers.
The Curse of Wedgie Magee
This comic is about a boy named Wedgie Magee. He is bullied so much that he can't take it anymore. He visits a fortune teller. She tells him she will make a special potion to stop wedgies. But the fortune teller is short-sighted. She accidentally grabs a voodoo potion instead.
The next day, Wedgie rubs the potion on his pants. His pants turn into a ghost! Then, he feels so embarrassed that he disappears. That evening, the ghost pants come back for revenge. They swallow up the bullies!
Signs of the curse:
- The person will start acting strangely.
- The person will want to play with dolls, dresses, and bracelets.
- The person will find ectoplasm (ghost juice) and spiders on their things.
- Food like pizza will taste very spicy to the person.
- The person will feel a burning feeling in their armpits.
How to undo the curse: The person must fix their bad actions. They must promise never to pick on kindergartners again.
Characters in the Story
Characters in the Present Time
- George Beard – A clever boy who is almost eleven years old.
- Harold Hutchins – George's best friend, who is eleven years old.
- Mr. Krupp – The principal of George and Harold's school.
- Captain Underpants – Mr. Krupp's secret superhero identity.
- Tippy Tinkletrousers – The villain, who used to be called Professor Poopypants.
- The Chief of Police – The leader of the police force.
- Officer McWiggly – The Chief's helper.
- Warden Gordon Bordon Schmorden – The main jailer at Piqua State Penitentiary.
Characters in the Past (Kindergarten Story)
- George Beard – A five-year-old boy, just starting school.
- Harold Hutchins – A six-year-old boy, George's new best friend.
- Mr. Krupp – The principal of the school and Kipper's uncle.
- Kipper Krupp – A sixth-grade bully and wrestling team captain. He is Mr. Krupp's nephew.
- Finkstein – One of Kipper's friends and wrestling teammates.
- Bugg – Another one of Kipper's friends and wrestling teammates.
- Loogie – Also one of Kipper's friends and wrestling teammates.
- Ladies – A group of women who get upset by George's prank on Billy Bill.
- Billy Bill – The unfriendly owner of a gas station.
- The cheerleaders – Wendy Swan and her friends. They got scared by the shaving cream prank.
- Wedgie Magee – A kindergartner from the comic book.
- The gossip girls – Four girls George listens to for information.
- The delivery guy – The person who delivers pizzas from Piqua Pizza Palace.
- Ms. Ribble – A teacher at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School.
- Mr. Fyde – The former science teacher.
- Donny Shoemyer – A kindergartner who was bothered by Kipper.
Fun Facts
- George, Harold, and Mr. Krupp get arrested, but their pets, Crackers and Sulu, are not mentioned.
