By Wendy and Naomi Wax Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
I’ve done quite a few potty training book reviews on this blog, so when the author of this book contacted me and asked if I’d like to take a look at her new book, I thought I’d take a little bit of a different spin.
I took my six year old to a friend’s house to read with her 22-month-old twins. My son is like a cousin or big brother to these boys, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to see what they did. After all, who better to REALLY review a book than the kids themselves?
This book is charming, showing all sorts of childhood heroes delaying an event because they need to go potty, from the titled firefighter, to baseball players, to conductors and astronauts. My son giggled through the book as he read, and the twins, generally super active little guys, stayed well tuned in the entire time.
The twins sign "train" because, "Even conductors go to the potty!"
The illustrations are bright, bold, and engaging, and I particularly like the facial expressions on the characters. Thankfully, the missing waiter is shown washing his hands! We grownups might not want to dwell on it, but even waiters go to the potty too! It’s also a great time to practice the “I Wash My Hands” song, or perhaps talk about how how the characters are practicing “Stop and Go!” (click on each song title to hear clips of these Potty Time songs).
My very favorite part of this little activity though had to be when we were done reading and put the book to the side. One of the twins climbed up to the table to read it again, gleefully saying POTTY as he turned each page. I lunged for my video camera and caught a bit of it. Enjoy.
Click on the picture to open the video.
Potty Time! by Caroline Jayne Church is sure to engage. Each page in this simple board book has one or two lines of rhyme, taking a little boy through going potty and celebrating. This would match up nicely with our 
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This bright colorful lift-the-flap book follows a child, along with a very patient Mommy, through the potty training process. At first the child is hesitant to use the potty, then tries but has an accident and finally goes and gets to wear “big kid pants.” The child is nondescript and could be seen as a boy or girl. Parents will like the opportunity to discuss accidents and opportunity to “try again.” The book has a sing-songy rhyming rhythm that flows easily, and the sense of pride the child feels at the end brings a smile to your face.
