Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders… George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets.
Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Insights about possums add an educational element to this otherwise comic adventure, while humorous illustrations capture the wee possums’ antics and personalities. Use of the present tense adds immediacy to Appleblossom, Amlet, and Antonio’s naïve, amusing, and endearing high jinks. Determined to save Appleblossom, Antonio and Amlet stumble upon their parents, and together they stage a daring raid on Izzy’s house. Thrilled with her adorable new pet, Izzy pampers Appleblossom and conspires to hide her from her parents and dog. Insecure and afraid, Appleblossom and her brothers, Antonio and Amlet, stick together until curious Appleblossom accidentally tumbles down a chimney into the house of a girl named Izzy. When her babies are ready to survive on their own, Mama leaves.
Mama explains that as solitary, nocturnal, nomadic marsupials, they must hide by day and avoid dogs, humans, and cars. The runt of a litter of baby possums, Appleblossom spends several months inside her mother’s pouch before Mama Possum introduces her babies to the dangerous world. A young possum topples down a chimney to become the pet of a little girl while her brothers try to rescue her.
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