- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 7–10
- Comedy
Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers
Book 10 of 12 in Captain UnderpantsView the full series
A time-travel/post-apocalyptic continuation that is still very funny, but bigger and more serial than the early books. Best after book 9, because it pays off that cliffhanger-style setup.
- Best for7–10
- FormatIllustrated
- Length224 pp
- Read aloud~3 hr10 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Irreverent
- Absurdist
- Exciting
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
George and Harold have been turned into evil zombie nerds and are stuck on a devastated, post-apocalyptic planet. Their problems are, as usual, completely ridiculous, but the stakes are bigger than ever. To fix the future, untangle the timeline and stop Tippy Tinkletrousers' scheme, the boys must rely on friendship, comedy logic and Captain Underpants-style chaos. The Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers is one of the more involved Captain Underpants books, with time travel, altered futures and continuing plot threads from the previous volume. It is still powered by jokes, drawings, Flip-O-Rama and absurd villain names, but readers get a larger, more serial adventure than in the early school-prank entries. For committed fans, that makes it feel like a proper event book.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–10
- Read aloud · 7–10
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant reader pick
- Time travel silliness
- Series continuation
- Post apocalyptic comedy
- Comic prose hybrid
Avoid if
- Has not read book nine
- Very sensitive to apocalypse imagery
- Dislikes toilet humour
- Wants shorter entries
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Neurodiversity or learning differences
In the classroom
How it works in school.
The anarchic, wildly funny Captain Underpants series — a legendary reluctant-reader hook and classroom-library staple.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
By volume ten the pleasure is the lore — characters from book two, jokes from book five, time-travel paradoxes a casual reader couldn't possibly follow. Children who've made it this far feel like insiders. The Robo-Boxers themselves are absurd enough to carry the silliness even when the plot threads multiply.
- Time travel
- Surviving danger
- Breaking the rules safely
- Making a difference
- Friendship and belonging
Why parents love it
A book to hand the child who finished the first nine and asked when book ten arrives. Not a starting point — the time-travel plotting assumes you know the universe — but exactly the right next-step for a committed seven-or-eight-year-old completist. Pilkey rewards loyalty in a way few children's series do.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Nostalgia
In the series
Captain Underpants.
12 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Dav Pilkey.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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