“Potty” by Leslie Patricelli is a cute and funny book about a baby deciding to use the potty on their own for the first time.
Read on for the full “Potty” vegan review, or scroll to the bottom for simple vegan ratings.
Affiliate links:
Order “Potty” from Bookshop.org.
Order “Potty” from Amazon.
Full Review of “Potty” by Leslie Patricelli
Our baby is not quite ready for potty-training, but really enjoys this book. It’s also short, fun, and easy to read as a parent.
Quick Synopsis
The baby is the narrator. They (I use they as a singular pronoun when gender is not given) have to go, and don’t want to go in their diaper.
They wonder where the cat goes – oh, the litter box. Then, they wonder where the dog goes – oh, outside. Then the baby decides to give the potty a try, but it takes a while for anything to come out. They try reading a book. The dog and cat come by and both fall asleep.
Finally the baby goes, the family celebrates, and now the baby gets to wear underwear!
Is “Potty” by Leslie Patricelli Vegan-Friendly?
“Potty” is vegan-friendly. No animals are eaten, exploited, or mistreated.
Anti-speciesist Reading
I docked the tiniest point because the baby refers to the cat and dog simply by “kitty” and “doggie” rather than by their names.
When my baby met my brother for the first time, I didn’t point to my brother and say “man.” I said, “This is your Uncle John.”
For the same reason – that they are individual members of our family – we refer to our cats by name, not by “cat.” We do often add, “Roger the cat” or “Roger is a cat” for educational purposes, but their names always come first.
Now, it’s possible that when the baby says “What does doggy do,” it’s supposed to be baby-speak for the more generalized question, “What do doggies do?”
But I don’t know if it’s supposed to be poor grammar or not – I’m taking the baby at their word.
Other notes:
- The baby is not obviously gendered.
- The baby appears White.
- The parents appear to be a White man and woman
- When the baby finally goes to the bathroom, this is expressed with “tinkle, tinkle, toot.” Just mentioning because I bet a couple people will find that annoying.
- The diaper is white and is probably meant to be disposable, but the drawing is vague enough that it could be interpreted as cloth.
Order “Potty” from Bookshop.org.
Order “Potty” from Amazon.
“Potty” by Leslie Patricelli
Vegan rating: A
Anti-speciesist rating: A-
Overall rating: A