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Summary
Summary
Toilet training has never been such an adventure as when it is introduced by popular cartoonist Mo Willems. With his signature humor, the author gently leads children through each step in the process that will finally bring them to their emancipation from diapers. Featuring a crew of funny mice holding up signs with the text, children will be amused and inspired by this hilarious new picture book.
Author Notes
Mo Willems was born on February 11, 1968. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School for the Arts, he spent a year traveling around the world drawing a cartoon every day, which were published in the book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons. For nine seasons, he worked as a writer and animator for PBS' Sesame Street, where he received 6 Emmy Awards for his writing. During this time, he also served as a weekly commentator for BBC Radio and created two animated series, Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats and Cartoon Network's Sheep in the Big City.
While working as head writer for Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door, he began writing and drawing books for children. He received three Caldecott Honor Awards for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in 2004; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale in 2005; and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity in 2008. He also created the Elephant and Piggie series for Easy Readers, which were awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009.
His drawings, wire sculptures, and ceramics have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums across the nation. Occasionally he serves as the Radio Cartoonist for NPR's All Things Considered. He voices and produces animated cartoons based on his books with Weston Woods studios. The animated Knuffle Bunny was awarded Best Film during the New York International Children's Film Festival in 2008 and received the Andrew Carnegie Medal in 2007. His title Happy Pig Day made Publisher's Weekly Best Seller List for 2011. In 2012 his title Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs made The New York Times Best Seller List. In 2013 his titles: That is Not a Good Idea!, Let's Go for a Drive! and I'm a Frog! made the New York Times Best Seller List. In 2014 The Pigeons Need a Bath! and Waiting Is Not Easy! made the New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Not surprisingly, the author of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus infuses this potty training manual with saucy wit. Nonetheless, empathy underscores every laugh. From the beginning, Willems addresses the child's perspective: "If you ever get that funny feeling... don't panic! Don't fret! And please don't ignore it! Now is your chance to show how big you are!" He goes over the protocol-lift the lid, do your business, wash your hands-and ends with a reassuring, right-on-target observation. When you are through, "Everything will still be right where it was." Acknowledging an inveterate source of accidents-kids' intense desire to keep playing-Willems draws a relieved toddler bounding toward a tea party where her stuffed animals await her return. As in his debut, Willems pens rib-tickling, expressive cartoon characters on a white background, coloring in his images with an understated palette in ochre tones. A host of inviting mice narrate the text, which drapes across signs, balloons, banners and unfurling rolls of toilet paper. Antics such as rolling out a red carpet and the mice posing as an airport ground crew-who helpfully direct a youngster toward the bathroom with lighted, orange batons-provide gentle comic relief for a topic often fraught with anxiety. Ages 2-4. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Preschool) For kids who see every trip to the potty as an Event, this book's parade of enthusiastic, sign-wielding mice cheering them into the bathroom will be welcome indeed. More pep rally than how-to, the book is perfectly attuned to preschoolers' sensibilities and funny bones. The straightforward text (""Go for it, dude""; ""1, 2, 3, PEE!"") appears a word or two at a time on balloons, flags, open parachutes, banners, placards, kites, a wrecking ball, and, of course, toilet paper. Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, rev. 7/03) reinforces the familiar sequence: ""Excuse yourself""; ""Pull down your underwear""; ""Boys can stand / Girls should sit""; ""Flush!""; ""Wash your hands."" Most of the sideline action is conveyed in the energetic, cartoonlike illustrations, which manage to be uncluttered despite the rowdy gang of mice, coaching and encouraging each step of the way. Every page offers plenty of details to pore over (think bathroom reading for the toilet-training set), including mice flying overhead with jet packs, in helicopters, and in airplanes; being shot out of a cannon; and controlling air traffic. An ensemble cast of little kids star in this bathroom success story, each child looking confident, unsure, relieved, or proud, as the situation warrants. (The included stickers--""great work!"" ""nice aim!"" ""oops!""--and weeklong success chart attached to the book jacket are a handy gimmick, though not much use for libraries.) Kids reluctant to take a potty break from playtime are reassured that ""everything will still be right where it was"" when they return from the bathroom. The point might get lost in all the hoopla, but luckily it's one that will bear repeating in the inevitable encore readings. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
PreS. This good-natured book, by the author of Don't Let the Pigeons Drive the Bus BKL S 1 03, uses just the right tack for kids who theoretically understand toilet use , but still have misgivings about it in practice. Potty trainees will delight in reviewing bathroom procedures alongside a cast of worried-looking boys and girls and a pep squad of encouraging mice. Willems again demonstrates a genius for spare but expressive lines and an almost uncanny rapport with the preschool audience. The plainspoken text, which appears in placards raised cheerleader-style by the mice, offers pithy instructions (Boys can stand. Girls should sit ) and assurances (It won't take long ) that get right at the heart of kids' concerns. There's no real story, and true to its title, the book deals only with one bodily function. But, never mind; it will still go a long way toward easing the anxiety surrounding this developmental hurdle. Each copy comes with a chart on the flip side of the book jacket and reward stickers for home use, but don't let that stop you from putting it on the library shelf. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2003 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Good toilet training books seem as scarce as a clean public restroom in Times Square, and, unfortunately, this book won't alleviate the problem. A parade of needy children is joined by a group of wise mice that guides the youngsters to the bathroom and back. Encouraging phrases will assist reluctant children: "Don't Panic! Don't Fret! And please don't ignore it! Now is your chance to show how BIG you are!" Reminders to use toilet paper, flush, and wash hands are included. A final message reassures, "Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time-you'll get another chance." The book's benefits are overshadowed by the busy and possibly confusing illustrations. Large, bold type is set word by word into flags, banners, and signs held by the small creatures. When one child arrives in the bathroom, the toilet lid is covered with a well-meaning but unfortunately placed mouse band. While libraries will be able to work around the chart on the inside of the dustjacket and the page of (unattached) stickers that will allow children to record their successes, these features make the book most useful for home libraries.-Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
That most basic of functions, subject of countless earnest tomes, at last receives a treatment whose instructional value is equaled by its entertainment value. "If you ever get that funny feeling . . . " reads a series of signs borne by a host of cheerful, cartoony mice as they fly, drive, march, and (in at least one instance) get shot from a cannon past a bevy of dubious-looking multicultural children: "don't PANIC! Don't FRET!" The simple text is direct, not without humor ("And please don't ignore it!"), and wonderfully child-wise, providing the critical reassurance that "everything will still be right where it was." The multitudinous mice in their kite-flying, instrument-playing, sky-diving, helicopter-driving variety constitute a visual feast that enlivens the simple text and will keep the inevitable re-readings from becoming snooze-inducing. The uncluttered layout allows the children to take center stage while the legions of mice, with their text-bearing signs, happily perform their supporting roles. Those kids move from doubt to magnificent relief to pride in a happily encouraging progression, making this offering number one in the potty department. (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
