A review by backonthealex
Clayton Parker Really Really REALLY Has to Pee by Cinco Paul, Gladys Jose

3.0

If you've ever gone on a class trip with your students, you know it is very likely you will have a Clayton Parker among them. Just before Clayton's class heads off for a visit to the San Francisco Zoo, his teacher tells everyone to be sure to go to the bathroom. But Clayton doesn't have to go, so he just gets on the bus. Sure enough, riding to the zoo, Clayton realizes he really has to go. Clayton hopes to be able to use the zoo's restroom as soon as the school bus arrives there, but nope! It's closed for repairs. The rest of the book focuses on all of Clayton's efforts to find a working bathroom and his fears of what could happen if he doesn't. There is a brief digression from Parker's problem to explain the biology of how what you drink travels through your body to your bladder which sends a message to your brain that it's time to get to a bathroom. Both the story and the illustrations are humorous, but the message is important to always remember - use the bathroom before a trip, no matter how short the journey and even if you think you don't have to go. When I book talked this to my new young readers this summer, they all thought it sounded pretty funny, and apparently, they have all experienced Clayton's problem. Certainly, any teacher who has taken their younger students on a field trip, has also had at least one kid who insisted they were ok, and then couldn't wait to find a restroom when they reached their destination. I know I have.