10 Great Books for Potty Training Toddlers

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I began potty training my first daughter when she was around 16 months old. And now at 24 months, we’re still potty training. It’s… Well, it’s a work in progress, a sometimes messy work in progress that is moving forward, albeit very slowly.

In my eight months of potty training, I’ve learned a lot of lessons. The first? Well, potty training is not the easiest thing in the world. I know. Duh!! The second? With patience, the right expectations, and preparing your child for the process of being potty trained, things can go a lot more smoothly.

So, on the latter, I prepared my daughter for potty training by reading to her. Reading books on potty training has helped us tremendously to overcome some of her fears and reservations about the potty.

If you are in the throes of potty training and have already “tried on” patience and adjusted your expectations, consider some of these great books to “nudge” your child along:

1. Sam’s Potty By  Barbro Lindgren. Sam doesn’t want to go to the potty until his dog shows him that the potty is A-OK!
2. A Potty for Me! By Karen Katz. This lift-the-flap book tells the story of a little girl who at first doesn’t feel ready for the potty, but with some encouragement from her mom, decides to use the potty and has great success.
3. Potty By Leslie Patricelli. Featuring simple words and an adorably cute potty training toddler, this humorous book is great for younger toddlers just beginning to learn about the potty.
4. The Potty Book (for girls and for boys- Henry and Hannah) By Alyssa Satin Capucilli. Available in editions for both girls and boys, this book is similar to A Potty for Me! It tells the story of a toddler who receives a potty chair as a gift and then must learn, through some trial and error, to pass from diapers to big girl/big boy pants.
5. Everyone Poops By Taro Gomi. This book explains to toddlers that because all living creatures eat, they must poop. This story is simple enough for younger toddlers but is filled with enough interesting humor to appease parents and older toddlers.
6. Where’s the Poop? By Susan Kathleen Hartung. This lift-the-flap book has a similar premise as Everyone Poops—that is, that all living creatures poop, that it’s a natural process. But at the heart of this story is a question, “Where’s the Poop?” so the focus is on where animals poop versus where humans must poop, in the potty.
7. Diapers Are Not Forever By Elizabeth Verdick. Featuring colorful graphics and simple text, this book explains everything your toddler and you, as parent, need to know about potty training from start to flush.
8. Pirate Potty By Samantha Berger. Yes, even pirates go potty. In the world of potty training books, this one’s a sure winner, telling a fun, humorous, and colorful story that introduces boy toddlers to the concept of potty training.
9. Princess Potty By Samantha Berger. This is the girl version of Pirate Potty. Like the one intended for boys, Princess Potty features the talk of true princesses to narrate your child’s potty training process, or words like “Farewell” to accompany poop down the toilet.
10. Even Firefighters Go to the Potty By Wendy Wax. Similar to Princess Potty and Pirate Potty, this book seeks to encourage toddlers to go potty by telling them of all the other cool people in the world who use the potty as well. Even Firefighters Go is filled with fun graphics and lots of humor.

What are some of your favorite children’s books on potty training?