Skip to the loo! A potty book by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Ill. by Anita Jeram. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406377347
(Ages: 1-3) Toilet training. Board book. Rhyming book. Bunny needs his potty so off he skips to the loo and one by one, many other characters join in. "Look! Everyone's on their potties! POO! POO! POO!" It's a potty party: all the animals are sitting on their potties of varying shapes and sizes and there are balloons and music. "WAIT! Isn't someone missing? I wonder... is it YOU?".
From the illustrator of Guess how much I love you comes this potty book, which encourages toilet trainees to join the potty fun. The mirror page at the end is a cute invitation to the reader to join in and is definitely the most successful element of the book. While it could be useful alongside other toilet training books, it is not instructive enough to work as a standalone introduction to toileting. Despite it being a play on the song 'Skip to my Lou', the text itself is not singable; it even sounds clunky and lacks rhythm when read. In addition, the progression of animals is a little odd. It starts off fairly standard, with a bunny and a kangaroo, but then along comes Lord and Lady Huff-Puff (two dressed up cats), a naughty big fat monster called Stinkaroo and some spooky wookie ghosties (animals wearing white sheets). In addition, the old-fashioned chamber pots some of the animals are using as potties might be confusing, particularly as they look like teacups.
It is all a little hodgepodge and while the toilet message is there and the illustrations are well done, it definitely isn't an essential book for young toilet trainees.
Nicole Nelson