Dav Pilkey's Paperboy Delivers a Great Read

        In Dav Pilkey’s Paperboy, readers will find a book that artfully captures the both the nearly extinct act of newspaper delivery and the quiet excitement found in being awake when it seems the rest of the world is asleep. The book, written AND beautifully illustrated by Pilkey, follows a morning in the life of a young paperboy who awakes before sunrise along with his faithful Corgi companion to deliver the Morning Star Gazette to his neighbors. “The mornings of the paperboy are still dark and they are always cold even in the summer,” begins Pilkey’s book, capturing the familiar desire of the paperboy to remain in his warm bed. However, as a true and responsible employee, the main character of the story forces himself to arise, dress, eat his breakfast and tiptoe out of his house to deliver newspapers from a large red bag. This is a professional paperboy after all and while “it’s hard to ride a bike when you are loaded down with newspapers…the paperboy has learned how to do this and he is good at it.” The paperboy and his dog know their route by heart and even though all the world is asleep except for them, this time is when they are happiest. As the route finishes up, the sun begins to rise. The paperboy returns home and while his family slowly rouses themselves from their slumber, he creeps back to his bed and returns to sleep where he is free to dream.

I must admit that I superficially chose this book because the cover was pretty and the pictures looked much the same. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book was nominated for a Caldecott and received the Caldecott Honor award, a sort of runner-up among Caldecott nominees. This is a worthy award, given Pilkey’s paintings – one is even supposedly inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night! Along with being beautifully illustrated, I loved this book because it accurately captures the wonder and anticipation early morning holds for many children. These days, being awake before sunrise is ungodly and something viewed more as a punishment than anything else but I can remember when I was younger, being awake that early felt like a secret only I knew. I also found it charming that the boy featured in the book was a paperboy, a former childhood profession that is now dying out, replaced by adults in cars or computer-based versions of newspapers online. I think children will identify with the paperboy’s desire to feel responsibility and the fulfillment he receives from his job. It might also inspire them to pursue smaller jobs that will give them such fulfillment.

What surprised me the most about what I learned from my research was that Pilkey is the author of the famous children’s series Captain Underpants. I knew the author name seemed familiar to me but I didn’t make the connection at the time I checked the book out of the library. I remember hating the Captain Underpants books when I was younger because they seemed so crude to me and the only people I knew who read them were boys. I must have retained that stereotype subconsciously because it shocked me both that an author could produce two such different books and that Paperboy was so beautiful in comparison to Captain Underpants. Upon further research to Pilkey’s professional website, I found that this story was inspired by both the author’s experience as a paperboy and his observations later in his adult life. Pilkey was a paperboy when he was growing up in Ohio and his website states that “although he hated getting up early in the morning, he [Dav] did like the serenity and independence he felt riding his bike around in the dark, cold mornings.” (http://www.pilkey.com/bookview.php?id=11). It turns out that he was later inspired to write Paperboy thanks to his local paperboy who “seemed so confident and happy, and he reminded me of the way I felt when I was a kid delivering papers in the quiet mornings.”( http://www.pilkey.com/bookview.php?id=11). I’m glad to say that regardless of preconceived notions of the author, Dav Pilkey has utilized both personal experience and observation to create a beautiful book that both children and adults should and will enjoy!