Potty (Leslie Patricelli board books) [Board book]

Leslie Patricelli (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 14, 2010 | Age Range: 1 - 3 years | Series: Leslie Patricelli board books

A new toddler title charts a crucial achievement. There comes a point in a toddler’s life when going in one’s diaper is only one possible option, and the question must be raised: "Should I go in my potty?"

With pitch-perfect humor and pacing, Leslie Patricelli follows the inner dialogue (sure to have little ones shouting responses) and hilarious actions of everyone’s favorite Baby, winding up with an over-the-top look of surprise and delight that will have both parents and offspring laughing out loud--"I did it!"

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreS—Both books feature the same smiling, bald baby. In the first book, the toddler has to "go potty." Intimidated, the child investigates the cat's and dog's solutions. Several sound effects and wiggles later, the youngster gives the potty a shot with eventual success and accolades. In Tubby, muddy footprints and an obviously dirty child let readers know that it is bath time. The excited youngster has a grand time playing with bubbles and toys. These appealing books feature simple text, bright acrylic illustrations, and everyday situations that are certain to engage the very young.—Laura Butler, Mount Laurel Library, NJ
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About the Author

Leslie Patricelli is the creator of a series of best-selling board books starring her adorable bald baby. She is also the author-illustrator of two picture books about the Patterson Puppies as well as HIGHER! HIGHER!, a BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Honor winner. She lives in Ketchum, Idaho.

Product Details

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
  
• Board book: 28 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; Brdbk edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763644765
• ISBN-13: 978-0763644765
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.7 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (268 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Health > Toilet Training
  • #5 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life
  • #11 in Books > Children's Books > Humor

More About the Author

"My Grandma was a pastel artist and, for as long as I can remember, an artist is what I wanted to be too," says children's author and illustrator Leslie Patricelli. "My hobby as a kid was drawing cartoons and writing stories, and I started to consider a career in art in seventh grade. When the multiple choice career test I took resulted in a recommendation that I pursue a career in forestry, I went back and changed all my answers, so that it recommended instead that I pursue graphic design, which was the closest thing to children's book writer or cartoonist on the list."

Today, Leslie Patricelli's legions of fans are evidence that career tests are not always reliable. Her colorful trio of board books about opposites -- YUMMY YUCKY, BIG LITTLE, and QUIET LOUD -- follows a diapered protagonist as he discovers some curious contradictions, such as "ladies are big" while "ladybugs are little." Her inspiration for the series came from her son Beck who, at one year old, "was constantly putting everything into his mouth." Says the author, "I found myself saying 'Yummy!' and 'Yucky!' all the time. I began to draw a baby dramatically expressing his taste or distaste for the things he was eating. The idea of YUMMY YUCKY was born!"

Her other toddler books in the series, BINKY, BLANKIE, NO NO YES YES, BABY HAPPY BABY SAD, and her latest books -- TUBBY AND POTTY, were also based on her parenting experiences. "I am inspired by how passionate toddlers are," she says. "I love the way they are so extremely focused on things, and display such intense emotions. It is easy to see what they care about the most."

Leslie Patricelli's beloved baby character graduated to star in his first full-length picture book, THE BIRTHDAY BOX. She notes "I've watched my kids transform boxes into cars, boats, spaceships, hospital beds, dog carriers, snake houses, bass drums, forts, airplanes, sleds, and of course, robots. It's very exciting when a new box comes into our home."

Her book HIGHER! HIGHER! was selected as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Honor Book. "I credit my daughter, Tia, for writing this book for me," says Leslie. "I was pushing her on the swing at the park when she was two, she started shouting, 'Higher! Higher!' I noticed how the other kids were saying the same thing. We started pretending that with every push I was sending her higher into the sky until she was in space. I went home with the book almost fully formed in my head."

About her latest series, which includes, THE PATTERSON PUPPIES AND THE RAINY DAY. and THE PATTERSON PUPPIES AND THE MIDNIGHT MONSTER PARTY, Patricelli says, "Although the puppies' individual personalities are based on the personalities of my own kids, the stories for these books were inspired by incidences from my own childhood. When I was four, my friend and I decided to create an ocean in her bedroom by dumping buckets of water on the floor, just like the puppies do in THE PATTERSON PUPPIES AND THE RAINY DAY. I will never forget the feeling of being caught by our parents and torn from our imaginary world to realize that we had done something very wrong! Their was no doubt in my mind that we would succeed at making an ocean. I love how a child's imagination can carry them right out of their present situation into an imaginary world that is so real to them. This is the feeling I tried to capture in the Patterson Puppies books.

"My favorite part of writing books is the moment when a new idea comes into my head," says Leslie. "If I give it my attention, a book will start forming in my mind. At this moment, I most certainly have a smile on my face."

Leslie Patricelli lives in the mountain town of Ketchum Idaho with her husband, Jason, her son, Beck, her daughters, Tia and Tatum, two cats, Oreo and Elvin, two rabbits, Olivia and Chewy and a fluctuating population of guppies. Her husband is a drummer, music engineer, ski instructor, and her on-request editor. Her kids have become her editors, whether she requests it or not!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

171 of 175 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book! March 10, 2011

By Jlane

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ok, so after sabotaging my child's potty training by thinking that I could MAKE him sit on the little potty, my son no longer wants to get within 20 feet of a toilet. Yay for me setting us back 5 yrs! I read that I should start reintroducing the idea of potty training by speaking positively about it, reading him books, and just generally getting him excited about peeing somewhere other than his diaper. I read through reviews of many, many books for kids and decided on 3 of them. Heck, if I thought it would help I'd buy all of them! I got the books in the mail yesterday afternoon...and proceeded to read every one of them to my son last night! Can we say, "desperate mommy"?!?

Fortunately, my son (2.5 yrs old) loves to be read to and was thrilled to have new books. This morning I changed his diaper and put on his cloth training pants (much better, in my opinion, than disposable training pants because they give the feel of underwear, but the protection of disposable diapers!), which he happens to like wearing, and for the next hour and a half I offered the potty to my son several times. Each time he said no, I just said, "That's ok! Maybe later!". Each time he DID say yes, I immediately got the books out, and he asked for this book, "Potty", each time. While he sat on his potty, I read the book to him. He did this probably 3 times over the hour and a half and I was surprised that he kept his underwear dry this entire time (and completely shocked that he actually sat on the potty!). Then, he suddenly went over to the potty, and said, "go potty!". I think he was actually talking to his bear (that I had placed on the potty...another trick I read in a book), but I excitedly asked if he needed to go potty.... He actually said yes, so I helped him get his undies off and he sat down and, again, chose the Potty book. We didn't even make it through the first page before he peed! I am so glad we got this book because it has helped to positively introduce potty training back into my kiddo's life.

The book is very nice because it has simple words. In the books for children that I have read, the vast majority of them are too wordy, and seem as if they are written for much older children (4 yrs). I would assume that the typical potty-training child is around the age of 2-3, and therefore benefit from easy-to-understand, short sentences or phrases, and clear, engaging pictures. This book has all of that, plus some extra humor in there for children who understand it, and adults who appreciate it. Read more ›

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect timing September 16, 2010

By msward

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

The arrival of Potty couldn't be more perfect. My husband and I are just starting to introduce the idea of potty training to our two year old who's recently shown some interest. My son is already a huge fan of Yummy Yucky and No No Yes Yes, both on regular rotation as bedtime reads. Since Potty arrived in the mail two days ago, both my husband and I have read it over fifty times. As soon as the last page is turned, my son will ask for us to read it to him again. With its bright and humorous graphics and simple wording, Potty is a perfect book for introducing a little one to the idea of potty training. It's not overwhelming like some children's books which can be loaded down with words and too many graphics. Instead, Patricelli's books capture kids because they are simple, to the point, humorous, and engaging. Kids get Patricelli, and Leslie Patricelli gets kids.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Potty book October 26, 2010

By A. C. Shrouf

Format:Board book

My son loves this potty book, and so do I. Unlike everybody poops and similar books this one actually shows the child what needs to be done...sit on the potty and wait! This was the fist book that my son actually got really engaged in, laughing at funny parts, responding to questions the little kid asks, and best of all asking "again?" when I get to the end. We just bought another of Leslie Patricelli's board books (Yummy Yucky) and the same result. She does really well in targeting the 18+ month super active kids, because the stories aren't too involved language-wise for them to follow, and really comes at it from their point of view. Will be getting more of her books.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful but lacking March 20, 2011

By Monica Joan

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bought this for my 18m old.
She enjoys seeing the baby and the animals.

I found it lacking. It spent so much time addressing if the kid wanted to use the potty that it doesn't really talk about what happens afterward (wiping, hand washing). It also bothered me how many times it shows the kid getting off the potty. My daughter looks at the pics and gets up to imitate him which is not the part I want her to emulate!

Honestly though, I haven't really found many potty books I am altogether happy with. This is probably one of the better ones, but I still am not thrilled about it. It lacks educationally. Guess you can't win them all.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not that great January 9, 2013

By Brooke

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

When we were looking at potty training books, this one came highly recommended. For the life of me, I can't really understand why. It isn't very interesting and the plot of the story makes no sense. The baby has to go potty really badly but then ends up falling asleep on the potty while he's waiting for something to happen? This book was only read a couple of times before ALL of use lost interest in it. If you're looking for a good potty book, get "Even Firefighters Go To the Potty. Its a much better book and certainly much more interesting.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best as a first potty book February 19, 2011

By Autumn

Format:Board book

After I bought a bunch of the other potty books including: Where's the Poop, A Potty Book for Girls and Karen Katz's lift the flap book "A Potty for Me". This book is simpler than those, so my daughter was easily able to connect the dots to understand that a potty is where you sit without your diaper. Has a lot of illustrative and adorable pictures, and is funny without being gross. Very easy to understand for 17 - 20 month-olds.

Highly recommended as a first potty book. Especially like how the baby observes that dogs and cats don't use diapers... and how the baby goes to get a book to make sitting on the potty more fun. I especially love that this book isn't filled with tons of gendered colors, it's just a baby learning how to use a potty.

The other book I recommend is A Potty for Me, which is simply delightful but for a slightly older baby!