cover image ZOO POO: A First Toilet Training Book

ZOO POO: A First Toilet Training Book

Richard Morgan, . . Barron's, $5.95 (24pp) ISBN 978-0-7641-2767-0

A trip to the zoo provides Morgan (Oops, Sorry! ) with the setting for a chirpy exegesis aimed at the potty-ready crowd. A round-faced boy with three wisps of hair visits eight habitats, taking note of each species' distinctive method of "doo-doo." As balls of dung exit the back of a pachyderm, the boy holds his nose and sees that "Elephants doo-doo bigger than you. Plop!" On the next spread, the boy and a giraffe watch with approving smiles as the latter "doo-doo[s] from way up high," and a toucan unfortunately leaves its droppings on the toddler's head. The boy, however, knows he's special because he uses a toilet—and the final spread finds him in the bathroom while all the zoo dwellers look on (the elephant helpfully offers a roll of toilet tissue in its trunk). Morgan's crayoned outlines and simply rendered hero give the pictures a childlike feel, while his animals exhibit a more expressive sense of shape, texture and movement—the tiger is particularly striking. The book does not have the hip artiness or tantalizing details of the genre's progenitor, Everyone Poops , but it's genial enough to elicit giggles. Standard toileting tips—for parents and kids—can be found in the preface and afterword. Ages 2-4. (June)