Rating: 
Summary: Everybody on the potty!
Review: "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.
Rating: 
Summary: Not impressed
Review: After hearing so much about "Once Upon a Potty" , I was thrilled when my daughter received the book and audiocassette for a Christmas gift. After reading the book and listening to the tape, I was disappointed. The lanuage was very infantile (although you are encouraged to substitute your own words for urination and defacation). The potty that was pictured looked like a ceramic pitcher which could cause confusion to children exposed to ceramic plant holders. My 23 month old daughter was not interested in this particular book on toilet learning, although she loves others. If you buy it I hope you like it more than I did.
Rating:
Summary: Worked like a charm
Review: Both of my daughters were trained in a week with this book(and video). I found a potty chair very similar to the one in the book by BabyBjorn and together they made potty training a breeze.
Rating:
Summary: On e upon a potty
Review: Cute, cute, cute! Perfect way to intrigue and lure the youngster to the pot. I buy this for every parent in the potty-training stage. Highly recommended! Great gift! I journaled our potty trials and tribulations in the back of book, and think my daughter will find this a delight to read when she is older. How fun to even keep as an heirloom book!
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Even though I bought this one used for [price]- I was very disappointed in the content. The "potty" pictured in this book is actually an "urn" like bowl that does not look even vaguely like any of the potty chairs that children are using currently. No matter how well it is written, my daughter (20 months old) will not relate this picture to her potty chair which makes this story worthless. Sorry I wasted [money] plus shipping and handling!
Rating: 
Summary: Great, after you tape it back together
Review: First, I should say that my 18-month-old had me read this book over and over and over for a couple of weeks (in conjunction with repeated viewings of the "Potty Time" video), then started peeing and pooping on her little potty. She loves this book. For my part, however, I was pretty annoyed to find it falling apart in the first week, and I've had to break out the scotch tape several times for emergency repairs. The pages just fall out! Also, the potty definitely does not look like a potty (and there's discussion of what it isn't -- not a birdbath, not a flower pot). My more open-minded toddler did not miss a beat, however, once I labeled it for her. Also, this book clearly illustrated the poop inside the potty, which was helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Be creative folks
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Have I read this book? Only a THOUSAND times!!
Review: Got this book AGES ago for my older daughter, now almost 10. Well, my 18 month old daughter "discovered" it about a month ago - though she's not ready to start potty training just yet - she LOVES THIS BOOK! She asks us to read it at least 6-8 times a day, and when we aren't reading it to her, she looks through it on her own. She understands more and more what the whole issue is, and this book might be the "cause" of her potty training EARLY! How much does she love this book?? Two days ago, one of the pages fell out - and I can't figure out how to fix it - she has been upset and crying over the loss of this book since then - I have to get a new one (that's why I'm here!).
Rating:
Summary: Have I read this book? Only a THOUSAND times!!
Review: Got this book AGES ago for my older daughter, now almost 10. Well, my 18 month old daughter "discovered" it about a month ago - though she's not ready to start potty training just yet - she LOVES THIS BOOK! She asks us to read it at least 6-8 times a day, and when we aren't reading it to her, she looks through it on her own. She understands more and more what the whole issue is, and this book might be the "cause" of her potty training EARLY! How much does she love this book?? Two days ago, one of the pages fell out - and I can't figure out how to fix it - she has been upset and crying over the loss of this book since then - I have to get a new one (that's why I'm here!).
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Potty Primer
Review: 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.
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