The Potty Book for Girls [Tapa dura]

Reality check. I had two minor issues with the book: Hannah easily removes her diaper. My girls struggled to get theirs off (at least at first). And Hannah seems to graduate instantly from diapers to underwear after only one successful potty. In my house that meant instant mess!

Otherwise, readers will chuckle over Alyssa Capucilli's delightful rhyme, rapped by Hannah herself, and Dorothy Stott's hilarious antics of Hannah's potty partner Teddy the bear.

We have read almost every potty book available on the market as of 9/2003 (over two dozen!). Most fit into two categories: INSTRUCTIONAL books that introduce the skills needed to master the potty; and those that are primarily ENTERTAINING, for children who understand what is supposed to happen on the potty, but need extra time to make it happen.

I think The Potty Book for Girls fits more in the INSTRUCTIONAL category for the following reasons:

1) It identifies the purpose of the potty.
2) It specifies bodily functions such as "poop" and "pee."
3) Shows the transition from diapers to big kid underwear.
4) Includes the hand washing step.

For other potty books that are instructional, check out What to Expect When You Use the Potty by Heidi Murkoff, You Can Go to the Potty by Martha Sears, or My Big Girl Potty by Joanna Cole.

The book itself is a hardback with very thick pages that will not tear easily. The illustrations are very attractive and definitely show how much energy Hannah has (as does every toddler or preschooler). The story line rhymes and is easy to follow. This book is perfect for any "big girl" who is interested in potties or parents who want her to be.

My own Hannah really likes the book at 24 months old, but is not quite ready for the potty. I think it will help her to read and talk about it for now. When the time is right, she'll be ready for the potty, too!

This book helped to open a LOT of dialogue about using the potty, which is great. My daughter also likes to use the phrases from the book, "Whoops, I had an accident" and "that's OK". Unfortunately for me, we haven't moved from dialogue to action, (you'll notice she's not saying "Hurray I said, I did it!") but I guess there's a limit on how much to expect from one book!

The illustrations are cute. My daughter enjoys looking at the pictures and discussing what Hannah, her parents and her teddy bear are doing.

The quality of the book itself isn't quite as good. The pages are quite sturdy, somewhere between regular paper pages and board book pages, but the binding is already starting to split on our copy.

All in all, though, a fun book for a frustrating process.