How to Pee Your Pants

Starred review from August 15, 2024
A cartoonish bespectacled owl-like creature provides advice both serious and tongue-in-cheek for coping with a bladder accident at school. "It can happen when you are sleeping. It can happen when you are in class. It can happen when you are sleeping in class." These clever sentences show up, respectively, under three comical framed images featuring the protagonist along with other funny, anthropomorphic creatures. Next, Wilson lists reasons people might delay a trip to the bathroom and notes that they may have unsuccessfully tried "scientifically proven methods" to hold it in, including sitting very still and "the grab-and-hold." A double-page spread with a urine-colored background shows a stain spreading over the cringing owl's plaid trousers: "You peed your pants." After Wilson reassures readers that "we've all been there," the tips begin: "Create a distraction," "hide the evidence," and "find new clothes." Hilarious, largely monochromatic artwork accompanies each suggestion--including the owl trying to wear, among other things, an inverted lampshade. Wilson's witty, kindly tone will resonate with readers of preschool age and beyond. An image of the humiliated owl, forced by less-than-sympathetic adults to sit on a bubble-wrapped chair while awaiting clean clothes, is paired with a great zinger aimed at said grown-ups. The ending is equally strong--and surprisingly sweet. While other books use humor to downplay the mortification of peeing one's pants, this one stands out by embracing the embarrassment and using that momentum to remove the stigma. A number-one hit!(Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 5, 2024
For debut creator Wilson, handling the potentially mortifying action of the title isn’t so much about honing biological mechanics as it is about striking the right attitude. The instantly relatable protagonist of this benevolently imagined self-help send-up is a round, orange-beaked owlet sporting glasses and checkered green pants. In fluidly lined sketches that crackle with comic specificity, the bird is seen in a variety of settings, largely school-based, that introduce scenarios in which one might wet oneself: “Maybe you didn’t want to interrupt.... Maybe you drank too much lemonade (the lunch lady offered refills).” Now afflicted with a telltale wet spot despite engaging in preventative measures (“Even the grab-and-hold”), the owlet is offered comical strategies “to get you through it.” These include instigating a distracting cafeteria food fight and sending out a distress call via a signal shaped like tighty-whities. Offering up a good tickle and just the right amount of playful
psychological distance from the act, the title balances empathy and pragmatism, reminding readers that the experience at some point happens to everyone—grown-ups included. Ages 3–5. Agent: Lindsay Auld, Writers House.

Starred review from October 15, 2024
Preschool-Grade 1 *Starred Review* Wilson's lighthearted debut picture book ponders the serious question of what to do if a bathroom accident happens in school. An adorable bespectacled owl finds themself in this predicament, surrounded by their anthropomorphized animal classmates. Bold monochromatic multimedia illustrations show the animals at school with telling expressions on their faces. Owl tries to prevent an accident by sitting still and crossing their legs. Despite their best efforts, Owl has an accident; red cheeks give away their embarrassment. Wilson reassures readers, "We've all been there. Here are some tips to get you through it." She recommends creating an amusing distraction, utilizing a lampshade, a puffy coat, or a pot as pants. In the end, Owl ends up in the office sitting on a plastic-covered chair, waiting for clean clothes. While they wait, a classmate also has an accident, and the two animals hold hands in tender solidarity. Wilson deals with the topic with humor but ultimately with kindness, and empathy. The mainly black-and-white bold illustrations add levity. Wilson uses large blocks of color to add interest or emphasis, such as yellow pages when Owl has the accident. Wilson writes a reassuring lesson for everyone, even astutely pointing out about adults, "They've probably forgotten what it's like to pee their pants. They'll remember in a couple of years."

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 4, 2024

K-Gr 3-The reality of potty accidents is handled with humor in this charming story. It begins by acknowledging that wetting happens, "It can happen when you are sleeping. It can happen in class." The reasons one might not go when they need to are handled in a matter-of-fact way: "Maybe you didn't want to miss out on something spectacular." Despite various attempts to prevent it, the accident happens. What now? To avoid notice, "Create a distraction" is one of many suggestions made. The story mentions adults ("They've probably forgotten what it's like to pee their pants. They'll remember in a couple of years") and a reminder to help others in the same situation. The main character is a bird with glasses, whose desperation to hold it and not miss anything is obvious in all the drawings, from the end pages up until "You peed your pants," which is just text on a yellow page. The cartoon drawings are a mixture of full-page illustrations with integrated text, smaller drawings set apart in shapes, and panels with text below. The bird and their animal classmates are all expressively drawn in mostly muted greens and red shades with a bird's yellow beak standing out. The end pages at the back show bird with a friend, playing together after the incident. VERDICT Buy this one ASAP. This honest and compassionate dealing of a common occurrence in preschool and elementary school reminds kids to be kind to each other when accidents happen.-Tamara Saarinen

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2025
In this nonjudgmental, laid-back, and very funny picture book, a bespectacled young penguin demonstrates how to cope with a potty accident at school: "It can happen when you are sleeping. It can happen in class. It can happen when you are sleeping in class." From possible causes (e.g., not wanting to interrupt a lesson, drinking too much lemonade at lunch) to avoidance techniques ("the grab-and-hold...obvious but effective") to coping skills after the fact (cause a distraction, find clean clothes), the text is unfailingly reassuring: "We've all been there." The art, in a soothing limited palette, has a subdued, retro flair. There are funny visual gags (origami undies) and pee-pee puns (book titles glimpsed in the art include Urine Control and Pee Prepared), but the humor is never at anyone's expense. And best of all, the culminating messages of problem-solving, helpfulness, and, especially, empathy are transferable to other would-be embarrassing situations -- peelieve it or not. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2025
In this nonjudgmental, laid-back, and very funny picture book, a bespectacled young penguin demonstrates how to cope with a potty accident at school: "It can happen when you are sleeping. It can happen in class. It can happen when you are sleeping in class." From possible causes (e.g., not wanting to interrupt a lesson, drinking too much lemonade at lunch) to avoidance techniques ("the grab-and-hold...obvious but effective") to coping skills after the fact (cause a distraction, find clean clothes), the text is unfailingly reassuring: "We've all been there." The art, in a soothing limited palette, has a subdued, retro flair. There are funny visual gags (origami undies) and pee-pee puns (book titles glimpsed in the art include Urine Control and Pee Prepared), but the humor is never at anyone's expense. And best of all, the culminating messages of problem-solving, helpfulness, and, especially, empathy are transferable to other would-be embarrassing situations -- peelieve it or not.

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)