Customer Reviews

Potty Time (Caillou)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This sturdy,colorfully illustrated book provides age-appropriate information for the 2-3 year-old child. In comparison to the Sesame Street version and also the Rugrats potty book, this book focuses more on the emotions that your toddler may experience during potty training. Unlike many of these books, Caillou Potty Time is gender neutral. The approach is upbeat, and encouraging. Would reccomend reading this one early in the process.Both my child and I have enjoyed reading the book.

My toddler loves Caillou, but this book doesn't do much to help facilitate potty training. My son never thought of wearing his potty chair on his head until we read it in this book. Ugh. It also isn't very clear about what Caillou is doing on the potty, and there is too much emphasis on his accidents. I think we read this book twice before I donated it to our library - I figured that way at least a parent could read through it to decide if it would help them before spending money on it.

I bought this book because my 2 1/2 year old son loves Caillou and we were in the midst of potty training. It seems my son was having more accidents after we read the book--many times. He was even quoting from the book--"Oops didn't make it on time" and "I don't have to use the potty!" I think the book is cute and I like the colorful illustrations, but it seemed to make my son think it was ok to regress. We put it away and he is back on track!

We have several potty books including the Bear in the Big Blue House one, Flush the Potty, Lift the Lid Use the Potty with stickers, Ruby's Potty and the classic Once Upon a Potty: Girl just to name a few. Although my daughter enjoys all of her potty books this is her all time favorite. She really identifies with Caillou and his potty trials and tribulations. The story starts with Caillou's mommy calling out to him that she has a suprise for him. It's a potty! Caillou doesn't know how to use it at first, he wears it as a hat. After a few accidents he masters the potty and makes his mommy and daddy proud. My daughter makes me read this book to her every day along with the book Caillou Takes a Bath. I swear I have both books memorized word for word. Although I am a little sick of reading them my daughter is less resistant to using the potty and taking a bath becauise of them. If my daughter hesistates to use the potty all I have to say is let's do it like Caillou and that is enough to motivate her. So where are we in terms of toliet training you might ask after all of these books not to mention countless videos, stickers, charts, and how to potty train books for mommy. Well my daughter will be three in August and she has been peeing in the potty for some time now. She will even get up by herself in the middle of the night and use the potty. She still refuses to makie a bowel movement in the potty though. I have to agree with Vicki Levines advice in a Girlfriend Guide to Toddlers. If you need a potty training laugh her passage relating to this topic is a hoot. She claims that your child will be toilet trained when they deem they are ready no matter how much you push and prod them otherwise. Until that happy potty trained day comes you can pass the time with your little one reading good potty books such as Caillou Potty Time.

My son has been doing well with potty training, but has gone back & forth. One week I think he's almost done with training all together & then the next he's having lots of accidents again. I have found, at least for us that pull ups promote laziness. We have used pull ups only at night now for a couple of weeks. Elijah is 2 1/2, & it has made a big difference. However, it wasn't until I purchased Caillou's book that Elijah really got the hang of things! It was like magic-since Caillou has accidents, Elijah could identify with the book. Mind you we have the Bear in the big blue house potty video & My Big Boy Potty book starring Michael, both of which are big winners, but this book was the 1st to really drive it home about the accidents. Caillou makes of few, but learns to get there faster next time & be successful. Elijah also gets to the potty on time now! I'm thrilled & very impressed with Elijah & this book. The only reason I didn't give this book the highest rating is because I believe you need a combination of a video, cloth training pants (They need to be able to FEEL the wet) & this book.

First of all, my 20 month old son loves this book. This is, of course, because he loves Caillou. And I think that it will be helpful in that he wants to imitate what Caillou is doing. If I say "potty" he says "Cai" and gets the book to read. However, if you are looking for a book to explain the potty process to your child, this is not it. It doesn't even come right out and say what Caillou is doing on the potty. It just says he has to "go". Go where, I ask? Timbuktu? The park? I have remedied this situation by adding in "pee" and "poo" where appropriate. It is a good book for him to identify with however, and combined with The Potty Book: Boy just may do the trick.

I bought this book because my daughter loves the TV show. The illustrations don't look much like the animation on PBS (the book must be the original - before Caillou was "discovered"). The book is colorful, but longwinded and somewhat repetitious. My biggest beef with the story: Caillou ditches his diapers for underwear BEFORE he is potty trained. That's insane! As a result, Mommy ends up changing her son's wet pants often.

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 Caillou - Potty Time 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) Includes the important steps such flushing.

My advice - there are other instructional potty books on the market that are much better. Try 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.

We weren't having any luck potty training until I bought my daughter this book. 2 weeks after, she was fully potty trained, and quoting from the book the whole time. Kudos!!

My son is 3 1/2 and I had been trying to potty train him for about a year and he was not getting it. I was very stressed out and reading lots of books for parents that were never a help to me when I decided to try this book to read to my son. Within a couple of days he was potty trained and he was very happy and proud to be like Caillou. I will always be grateful to this book and I will forever remember Caillou for helping my son. This is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

This book is so tangibily, eerily, uncomfortable with its subject matter, it's bizarre. "Caillou, use the potty when you have to go," says his mother. Elimination is described as "having to go," another six times throughout the story, and that's as specific as it gets. When Caillou's father empties the potty into the toilet, the accompanying illustration shows Caillou standing outside the bathroom door, looking embarrassed. Why? In Caillou's world, potty training is done to please your parents, accomplished without their help, and doesn't involve any of the unseemly details. Pooh pooh.