The Potty Train

by David Hochman, Ruth Kennison, Derek Anderson (Illustrator)

Overview

The Potty Train is coming! All aboard!

Time to say good-bye to diapers and take the journey to Underpants Station.

Are you ready? Let's chug away on the Potty Train!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416928331
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	01/08/2008
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	133,148
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	1 - 2 Years

About the Author

David Hochman is a journalist whose articles have been published in the New York Times, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly and Forbes. Upon graduating from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, he won the prestigious Pultizer Travelling Fellowship, which he used to visit and write about Australia and New Zealand.

Ruth Kennison has been a travel writer and theater critic, and now works as a professional organizer. This is David and Ruth's first children's book. They live in Los Angeles with their son.

Derek Anderson is the bestselling artist and cocreator of the Little Quack series. He is also the talent behind Gladys Goes Out to Lunch and Over the River: A Turkey’s Tale. He and his wife Cheryl reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit him at DerekAnderson.net.

Editorial Reviews

PreS
This celebration of toilet training breaks down early but insists on chugging along to a confusing end. When an engineer-capped toddler in a diaper and T-shirt feels as if he has to go, he heads for the bathroom, where he imagines himself and his suddenly huge toy animals climbing aboard a Little-Engine-That-Could-type conveyance (a potty is attached to the locomotive). From "Diaper Drop" to "Undie Junction," the child is encouraged to persist despite setbacks (" . . . leaks happen and you can get all wet" shows an elephant and giraffe seeking shelter under umbrellas). Two attached cars each contain a seated animal with underwear around its ankles, and the engine holds a giant roll of toilet tissue that flaps in the wind as they travel roller-coaster style along the tracks. The text assures readers, "when you're really ready, the Potty Train will blow its whistle," and the next spread declares, "Chugga, chugga, poooo-pooooooo!" and shows the wide-eyed boy barely keeping his seat as the cars bound into the air. This is made worse with the odd promise that "Soon, you'll even ride through the night." Anderson's acrylic cartoons maintain energy and fancy in pleasingly simple fashion, but can not salvage the text.
—Gay Lynn Van VleckCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The latest addition to toilet-training literature takes the train analogy and rides the rails to success . . . one hopes. A toddler engineer is playing with his toy train and stuffed giraffe, lion and elephant (all diapered) when he feels a sudden urge. Opening the bathroom door leads him to the station where the Potty Train awaits with Conductor Lion beckoning him aboard. Giraffe doesn't quite make it in time, but that's okay-learning to ride takes a while. Sometimes there are leaks, and sometimes nothing seems to be happening at all. But the potty train keeps going, and soon, the little boy will be able to ride it all the time. As he disembarks with his stuffed friends, the toddler is surprised to see that they are all now wearing underwear. Young children will enjoy the inventiveness of Anderson's acrylic illustrations, which incorporate everyday objects and toys into a fantasy train ride that marks the journey from diapers to "Undie Junction." One page is potentially problematic, however, as it shows the train about to chug through a pipe tunnel. Nonetheless, train enthusiasts will toot "Chugga chugga poo-poo." (Picture book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews