Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Potty -- Girl

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Goodness gracious. I do wish people would calm down about the terminology used in these books. The author writes a nice little note indicating that she used her preferred terms and encourages parents to CHANGE them to whatever they wish to use when they read the book to their pre-literate children, who won't know the difference. No, I do not say pee pee and wee wee when I read this to my daughter. I use terms I prefer. Likewise, I often change the text in books when I read them to my daughter if I don't care for the text as written for some reason or another. Additionally, my daughter knows that the chamber pot pictured in the book is a potty, and our "big toilet" is a potty, and the cat's litter box is a "kitty potty" but she doesn't crawl in there or void in my potted plants for that matter....This is a cute little story with sweet pictures and a simple story line. The potty doesn't sing, clap, play music, or hand Prudence a sticker...it just provides her a place to go that might be preferable to her (gasp) cloth diaper. My daughter enjoys the book greatly and will select it (in addition to several other favorite non-potty books) to listen to/look it while she uses her own potty. I personally like that it avoids any implication that if one is a "big" boy or girl that they should potty or that diapers are for babies. There is no mention of Prudence's age or of any timeline relative to how long it takes her to to master the potty. It mentions that accidents may happen and there is no suggestion of a good or bad consequence as a result. The book provides a framework without shame or pressure for sweet Prudence and leaves it to the parent(s) to fill in the rest for their child as/if they wish.

I am an early childhood educator, and from my experience as a parent and teacher of two year olds, I must say that this is the definitive potty primer. Once Upon a Potty is the only book/video set which details exactly what a child will go through. It labels body parts as a part of the explanation, which really pulls it together for a small child. I used the "boy" set for my boy, and I'm using the "girl" set for my girl. I've tried other books and videos, and this is the only book and tape that uses language and imagery that is exactly age-appropriate for a two year old. Age-appropriate communication is critical, especially with such an important developmental issue. Newer tapes (Big Blue House) discuss emotions but completely avoid toileting itself, and are therefore useless to a two year old. Grown-ups may complain about two-dimensional pictures or the type of potty depicted, but used with the video (which uses a terrific one-piece potty by Baby-Bjorn) nothing could be more entertaining or communicate more clearly to your young child. If you child is older, (3 and older) I recommend "Winston's Potty Chair", a video by the American Medical Association. The children depicted look like toddlers, but speak like older 3 year olds, and Winston's story is a bit more sophisticated.

"Once Upon a Potty," by Alona Frankel, is a fun book for small children and their caregivers. The book tells the story of Prudence, a little girl who has gotten a new potty, and is learning how to use it.

The book is full of bright, friendly illustrations. There are explicit depictions of body parts, urine, and excrement: this enhances the educational value of the book, in my opinion. There are a number of nice touches, like the pretty flower pattern of the mom's dress.

Although I have only seen the "girl" version of the book, I understand there is also a "boy" version. "Once Upon a Potty" is a good book for families going through toilet training, but would also make a nice light-hearted gift for anybody.

I think this is a cute, clever book, but it's a little abstract. The "chamber pot" that he uses as a potty looks nothing like today's potty chairs or toilets, so I'm not sure my child ever made the connection. (Especially since half of the book talks about "Is it a hat? Is it a flower vase? etc") There are other, more modern, books out there that I think gets kids' attention more.

I read all the reveiews on Amazon and decided to give it a try based on the kid's reviews. It seems that it's the parents that had the biggest problem with the "out of date" illustrations and the "vase-like potty". Who cares. My 21 month old knew exactly what it was and what it was for. As I'm writing this review she just brought me her full potty bowl and said "Bye bye wee wee". Then she said "dance". She likes to celebrate by dancing to the potty song. The audio tape is awesome because it gives me a break from having to read the book for the umpteenth time. We started 3 days ago and she's only had 2 minor leaks. Now we just have to train the bladder during nap time and bed time. This book is awesome. I love the way my daughter says "Prooonence" for Prudence. I must say that I have a fast learning child, so she may have done just as well without the book, but the book sure makes her have a lot of fun learning. I love it. And I'm finding myself singing "Yes I'm going to the potty potty now" quite often. :-)

Simply put, before this book we had difficulty potty training my 2.5 year old daughter. After a few reading of this book, we had a potty breakthrough! My daughter become more comfortable about the potty and all the bodily function associated with it.

Knowledge is power, even for a 2 year old. They have to know what's what on their body and what goes where. This book is extemely helpful in broaching those subject with your toddlers.

If you think this book is too explicit, then God help you when it comes time to talk about sex when your kids get older.

My husband and I have no clue as to how to teach potty training to our first child. So, we've spent much money on guides, books, videos, stories, etc. This book (and the video) have made a major break through. My daughter loves the story of Prudence and her potty! With her plethora of videos, she chooses this one to view, and wants to sit on the potty while watching it! Last night (which is why I decided to write a review), my daughter asked to use the potty, and she proceeded to poo. When she was all done, she proudly stood up and announced that she pooped on the potty just like Prudence! Finally we've made a connection!!

This book is cute. And my 2&1/2 year old daughter likes it. But she had a hard time with the illustraitons of the potty. The potty looks like a coffee mug or spitoon. She kept calling it a cup. It did not help that it wasn't a potty in her mind. The other illustrations are a little tuff too.

I bought this book, knowing it was an award winning book, but was very disappointed. The vocabulary is clumsy, as is the language. It also is a bit strange, and not terribly captivating for my 2 1/2 yr old daughter. The pictures are lovely though....

This is a fairly good introduction for a little girl to potty training. I wouldn't expect any book to be a perfect how-to potty training manual, but this at least shows kids that this is something that all little girls go through. Like another reviewer said, I didn't like the parts where you're supposed to say "I, Prudence's mother" or similar -- it just seemed clumsy. I changed those parts to third person ("This is Prudence's mother..." .)

As a father whose two kids are now potty trained (thank goodness!), I might offer this advice to parents of toddlers: There's about a gazillion different approaches to potty training. Don't get bothered by some friend who tells you about what is supposedly the "right" way to potty train. Every child and every family is different, and you have to find what's right for you.