CLAYTON PARKER REALLY REALLY REALLY HAS TO PEE

Clayton Parker really, really, really should’ve tried to pee before getting on the bus for a field trip.

Rhyming text with a sometimes-stumbling singsong cadence recounts how the protagonist, a boy of color, didn’t think he had to pee when he boarded the school bus to go to the zoo. By the time he arrives there with his class, however, he’s desperate. A brief interlude with Dr. Bladder explains: “See, when you drink some juice, let’s say, once it has left your mouth, / it goes down your esophagus and keeps on heading SOUTH. / It passes through your STOMACH and your KIDNEYS and then soon, / it fills your BLADDER up with urine, just like a balloon.” Clayton frantically scrambles around the zoo, encountering various animals and facing myriad obstacles before he finally finds an open restroom where he can relieve himself. There are some humorous moments that the amiable cartoon art attempts to exploit, but the climax veers to an older readership than the preschool/early-elementary crew in its use of simile: “He stepped into the stall and then let nature take its course. / (I’ve heard his flow was like that of a massive Clydesdale horse!).” The moral of the story—that one should try to use the bathroom before going on a trip—is reinforced just in case kids don’t get it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not really, really, really a must-have for the potty bookshelf.