"It's great to be back in Texas," said Dav Pilkey. On March 2, 2025, applause echoed as Pileky took center court at The Colony High School's basketball arena. Packed in the bleachers were upwards of 2,000 kids and parents, there to listen to the popular author and illustrator, get a signed copy of his latest book and take a photo at a meet and greet.
Pilkey is the creative force behind the aforementioned Dogman as well as the popular Captain Underpants. His books are voraciously read by kids — including mine. Which is why I found myself, as did other parents, waiting in a line that snaked around The Colony High School on a father-and-son Sunday afternoon.
"I have ADHD, and I was dyslexic, and I've come a long way since middle school," said Pilkey, who doesn't categorize ADHD as a disorder but, rather, as a "delightfulness."
"I don't think I had a hard time paying attention," he added. "I just had a hard time paying attention to boring stuff."
The Power Of Positivity
Pilkey turned his ADHD into a superpower and, along the way, said that practice, a sense of purpose and persistence helped him in his journey. But, perhaps, the most important P of all that contributed to his success is "positivity." Without positivity, none of the other Ps can happen.
"Many times, I would come home from school and I would feel very, very sad," said Pilkey. But his mom always had the best attitude about everyone. "She thought everything happened for a reason," he said.
"My mom taught me something very, very important," said Pilkey. "And it's all about positivity... Being positive is having a good attitude. Even when things are not going your way." A young Pilkey noticed that his mom was very positive all the time. This started to rub off on him to such a degree that whenever he had a bad day, he started asking himself an important question: How can I turn this into something good? Or, as we’d say at Local Profile, how can we make this the best day ever?
"My mom taught me something very, very important. And it's all about positivity."
Turning A Bad Day Into The Best Day Ever
So, if Pilkey got kicked out of class for misbehaving and being a "bad kid," he would sit out in the hall and start drawing a picture. He continued to draw and draw, and with practice, he got better. But he needed to be positive about the process of practicing, so he could get better and not give up. This gave him purpose, and that in turn, gave him persistence. It’s all connected, and it all starts with positivity.
"If you're passionate about something and you're really pleased with something, you have to keep going," said Pilkey. "You can never give up. You have to keep trying all the time."
As a kid in the 80s, I remember being told the same thing: I was bad, I didn't pay attention and I got distracted easily. I remember getting kicked out of the classroom. Sitting in the hall. Walking the clock on the wall. Being dosed up with Ritalin might've helped me feign my way through junior high, but it made me depressed. By high school, I weened myself off and found refuge in books — a love affair that continues to this day.
Growing up, I wish I had someone like Pilkey: he would've made me feel positive and better about myself, instead of being a walking disaster. But as a functioning adult, still with ADHD, I'm glad to see him filling high school gyms with hope and positivity.
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