Once Upon a Potty - Boy

This book is perhaps a bit graphic to the uninitiated, but then again, so is potty training, especially with inquisitive toddlers. I purchased this to read to my son when he sat on the potty for longer periods of time when he was first potty training, and he loved it. He helped read some of the funny parts--"Was it a hat? No, it wasn't a hat. Was it a milk bowl for the cat? No, it wasn't a milk bowl for the cat. . .It was a potty!" and he was fascinated by the straightforward explanations. I was blessed by a child that potty trained early, but this book certainly helped him understand some of the tougher questions of potty training. Cute illustrations, pleasant storyline, all around helpful. I even purchased an additional one for a friend's son who was not showing any interest in potty training, and he loved it too. One addition: We personally choose to say "pee" and "poop" at our house, rather than the other descriptors like "pee-pee", etc. used by this book. In other reviews people seem to really have a gripe with having to change the wording, but I own several other potty training books and even an Elmo DVD, and none of those use "our" wording for all parts and processes, either. I like to personalize books for my son, and, as in this one, I changed not only the "pee"-type words, but also changed the little boy Joshua's name to my son's name instead. It's not a big deal, that's just how I choose to read books. Also, the tone of this book is pretty tongue-in-cheek funny for the adults reading it, or at the least to me. I got pretty sick of reading the other potty training books we owned, but this one was always welcome. Read more

Things I love about Once Upon a Potty: It's a very sweet and simple story, and when it comes to teaching toddlers, it's important to keep things clear and simple. Little kids don't get metaphor. It doesn't shy away from being anatomically descriptive, but in a way that little kids really can understand and relate to. It actually shows the poop and pee...which may sound gross to more squeamish adults, but for a little kid who's trying to learn, it's great to have a visual for what they're actually aiming for (no pun intended). The author openly states in a note to parents that she encourages them to change the descriptive words in the book to whatever they use in their own family. Which I usually do anyway, but it's nice to see. The only thing I DON'T like about this book: It shows Joshua picking up his potty and bringing it to his mother. My son now tries this if he pees when I'm not in the room...it's a disaster every time, lol. So it might be helpful to explain, when reading this book, that the child should not try and move his own potty (especially today's potties which tend to have more parts than the chamber pot in the book). Otherwise, it's just such a great book! Read more

We are about to start potty training for my little guy and I was looking for some potty training books to get him excited about it. I came across this book and immediately I had flashbacks of the same book from when I was little- however I had the girl version. Loved looking at all the pages and remembering from years ago. My son also is now currently obsessed with it too (esp the "and sat" page). However I will say there are a few pages that are just plain... weird! (See photos) On the pages that are strange and don't really make sense I just make up the words. Read more

Good product Read more

Very cute book that a tiny toddler can understand. Read more

This is a good potty training book. My o my negative is, I wish they would update it and show what a potty looks like now. I think that is the part my toddlers are not understanding. Update! The binding of the book fell apart!!! Read more

My two year old grandson loves this book. He will be potty training soon so I bought this book for him. He wants to read it all the time. Read more

I used girl;s version for my two girls. Use toilet and save viper miney. Sit sit sit d]wit…… Read more