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WHO WET MY PANTS?

Name: WHO WET MY PANTS?
Author: Bob Shea
ISBN: 978-0-316-52521-3

by Bob Shea ; illustrated by Zachariah OHora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2019

It is not an accident that there is more here than meets the eye.

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Kindness is revealed to be the best answer to embarrassment and anger in this funny take on peeing in your pants.

“Somebody better come clean about my wet pants.” Reuben, a bear in a scouting uniform, interrogates the whole forest troop to determine who wet his pants. He even holds the doughnuts hostage until he can flush out the guilty party and get what he wants: justice and dry pants. The animals of Troop 73, all blushing with blame (or perhaps embarrassment for their friend?), are dressed in khakis and kerchiefs and sit around a warm campfire. “I’ll get to the bottom of my wet pants if it’s the last thing I do!” yells Reuben. The illustrations are as insistent as Reuben. OHora’s pink, brown, and green–dominated color scheme gives the pages an indie vibe; they’re full of cool things that catch the eye: a potable-water pump, the string-tied doughnut box, and plenty of perfect mushrooms. The scout badges—on both the uniforms and the endpapers—delight in their quirky charm. But this is more than a potty book for scouts. With each accusation, it becomes clear that Reuben will do anything to avoid blame—a character trait familiar to readers, no doubt. Luckily for Reuben, his empathetic friends treat him with kindness, and forgiveness ultimately leaks from the pages.

It is not an accident that there is more here than meets the eye. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-316-52521-3

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
OH, ARE YOU AWAKE?
by Bob Shea ; illustrated by Jarvis

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STINKBIRD HAS A SUPERPOWER
by Jill Esbaum ; illustrated by Bob Shea

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT TRUCK SWITCHEROO
by Bob Shea ; illustrated by Brian Won

- PERSPECTIVES
Our Children’s Editor Shares Some Favorites From the Best Picture Books of 2019

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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PURPLE PUFFY COAT
by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan

- BOOK REVIEW
KAIA AND THE BEES
by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Angela Dominguez

- BOOK REVIEW
HAPPY LIKE SOCCER
by Maribeth Boelts & illustrated by Lauren Castillo

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)