Last week 2D animation artist, Joshua Pinker, got to meet his childhood hero Dav Pilkey, author and illustrator of Captain Underpants, the highly successful novel turned movie and TV series.

Here’s what he had to say about this special (and somewhat embarrassing) experience:

“I found out about the event through an Instagram post by a bookstore called Ella Minnow Children's Bookstore.

The event was geared towards kids to meet Dav and get a signed copy of his new book. It's funny because I bought an adult ticket and they emailed me saying I still need to get a ticket for my kid. I had to embarrassingly reply back that I don't have children and still want to meet him myself.

The event had so many people attending (90% under the age of 7) that it was moved to the auditorium of Monarch Park Collegiate, which is basically an elementary school!

It was awesome nonetheless. Dav put on a slide show talking about his childhood and growing up with ADHD, which caused issues with his teachers who did not have the knowledge and coping strategies that are common today. He explained that this experience is where his books came from and that his biggest supporter was his mom, which I found to be very sweet. I also got to see him draw live sketches of his characters in under 40 seconds, which he then gave away to the audience in a raffle.

I didn't want to buy a book so I decided to make a poster instead and brought that for Dav to sign. When I finally met Dav I told him I bought his first book back in 1997 and he responded “Oh man, thanks for making me feel so old!”

I then went on to tell him how his books were the reason I wanted to get involved in cartoons and that now I work on multiple shows for television, as an animator. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that and continued to thank me for being a reader and a true fan. On a final note, I congratulated him on all his success and he proceeded to congratulate me on mine.