Your New Potty

Oh, the Potty Book. My daughter loves it so. She's nowhere near being ready to sit on the potty herself, but she loves to read about it. This book seriously needs some updating. It features a pretty white girl named Steffie who lives in a *house*, and a handsome African-American boy named Ben who lives in an *apartment*. Um, stereotypes anyone? Other than that, I love that this book features photos rather than drawings, and that it covers the entire transition from diapers to underpants. Although at the end of the book, neither kid is fully potty trained. And hey, we ALL end up in diapers again eventually, right? This book is pretty funny too - I haven't been able to read the line that goes "Steffie's bear, Muffin sat on the potty too" without laughing yet. The paperback book is plenty sturdy. I'd give it five stars if not for the undercurrent of race-based socioeconomic disparities throughout.

All children are different. My daughter started using her potty the day after I first read this book to her. She seems to be able to relate well to the characters and situations. I would prefer if it was a little more sturdy like a board book...after 2 weeks it's just about disintegrated from use.

My daughter and I love this book! It gets straight to the point, has great pictures for my daughter, and is realistic. I checked out the library's copy so often I figured I needed to buy my own.

This is the best potty book we've read--and my son and I have read them all. The introduction is helpful to parents, and the progression of the toddlers in the story from diapers to underpants was realistic (for example, they still wear diapers at night).