How to Pee Your Pants: The Right Way

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. (Oct.)