Honolulu Star-Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • D1

TODAY EDITOR: Christie Wilson cwilsonstaradvertiser.com 529-4778 SATURDAY 91215 tmlav FAMILY FARE f-. Check out a Moon Festival, Spalding House's keiki carnival or fa "Honu" on stage (shown) D2 TELEVISION D6 -KALAKOA- UNDERACHIEVING AUTHOR the author, 49, said recently. Does it freak him out that his first "Captain Underpants" fans are grown? "Yes, it does." But clearly a bit of pride tempers that feeling of being old: Please see PILKEY, D3 mentary school principal) has battled talking toilets, naughty cafeteria ladies and a particularly bionic booger boy. Alliterative titles are de rigueur for Pilkey's comic graphic fiction, so No. 12 in the series is "Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-a-Lot" (Scholastic, 205 pages, Pilkey's been writing and drawing Captain Underpants so long (since 1997) that last year he encountered a second-generation fan the son of a man who read Pilkey's The brain behind the "Captain Underpants" books is happy to help kids laugh and read By Jane Henderson St Louis Post-Dispatch It's an intimate but basic question.

What size are his tighty whiteys? "I'm not sure," Dav Pilkey says. "Probably in the category with a few X's in front." And does he favor any particular brand of brief? Apparently not. Still, Pilkey is well acquainted with said undergarment, having sold 70 million books featuring the bald, barefoot Captain Underpants, who yells, "Tra-la-laaaa! I'm here to fight for Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony!" Wearing only white, elastic-band drawers and a red cape, the famous crime fighter (whose alter ego is a mean ele My In defense of mispellingz Dav Pilkey says parents ask him why there are misspellings in his famous "Captain Underpants" books. The misspellings are in the comics or books by fourth-grade characters George and Harold. Pilkey gives a few reasons: He did it.

"I used to make comics when I was a kid, and my comics had tons of spelling errors. And I just think it's authentic." Encouragement. "I also think it encourages kids to be creative without having the pressure to be perfect." Confirmation. "Kids send me comics they've drawn, and they are just as imperfect as George and Harold's." work as a youth. "It was an honor and a shock at the same time," Sometimes all it takes is one silly book to lead a kid down the path to literacy." Dav Pilkey Author COURTESY DAV PILKEY NOW HEAR THIS Listen to Sally Squires, shown below, at 7 Tuesday nights on 650 AM or on the web at.

Send her poems and stories to read at G'Day Sally Show, P.O. Box 37126, Honolulu HI 96837. Children's author reads tales on her weekly AM radio show By Nina Wu nwustaradvertiser.com pus. The book's message is about taking care of the ocean. Each Tuesday, Squires reads 10 to 12 poems and stories, inviting children to send in their creations for her to read on air.

"I want to encourage them, as well, to write their own stories," she said. Squires, formerly a journalist in Australia, has also to imagine their own tales as well. But she began making up her own stories when she was a child, growing up reading books by English author Enid Blyton. Today's kids, she says, are losing touch with the magic of storybook imagination. "From the time of 18 months, they're pushing buttons on electronic things," she said.

"So much entertainment for kids nowadays is preprogrammed. There's no encouragement for them to use their imagination, and that's very sad." Her books, which include "The Story Tree," "Nick Nock Nack," "Micetralia" and "Mermaids Are Cool," are geared toward children in sixth to eighth grade and do not, as of yet, have any But they are meant to be read aloud to children of any age. Squires herself declined to give her age, saying she did not like being labeled. "I'm 17. 1 turn 17 every year, and I don't intend to grow up," she said.

She finds inspiration for her stories everywhere. "Micetralia," for instance, was inspired by an encounter with a little mouse that stood on its hind legs and looked at her while she was watching TV at home in Australia. The mermaids book came to her after she saw the ocean-themed decorations on the Christmas tree at Honolulu Hale, which helped her create characters like Cala-mungus Crab and Octarina Octo Sally Squires loves to tell a good bedtime story. Every Tuesday evening she reads some of her stories on KPRP 650 AM, a multicultural radio station owned by Pinoy Power Media at Fort Street Mall. The self-published author of several children's books is hoping to inspire listeners to use their imagination with her stories about a lion that can breathe underwater, Lucy the mouse at the opera house, and mermaids who care for the ocean.

Squires, originally from Australia, wrote her own stories for her two children while they were growing up, and encouraged them written adult fiction books and a guide to Australian slang called "G'Day She lived in New York for 12 years and a year in Vietnam before mov ing to Hawaii five years ago. A MISHMASH OF FAMILY FUN AND NEWS Why sell to an estate buyer? You've just inherited your grandmother's antique jewelry. While the sentimental value may be obvious, the financial value may not be. KNOW THE THE VALUE BEFORE YOU SELL! mmm.