Howard J. Bennett, M.D. (auth)
M.S Weber (ill)
Magination Press 2007
Ages: toddler
Magination Press 2007
Ages: toddler
ISBN 10: 1433801310
13: 9781433801310
I wanted to like this one. I really did. I mean with a title like It Hurts When I Poop, well, that was enough, alone to put it on my radar. However, I am sad to say, this book fell very short of its potential and left me wondering Did an editor actually read this book? And Did a High School student illustrate it? I think this is a classic example of what happens when an “expert” tries to write a children’s book.
Dr. Bennett started with a brilliant concept. Often children have a fear of the big BM because of the pain they may experience. The story begins with one such boy, Ryan. Concerned, his parents take him to the doctor. It is then that the plot lags into the depths of amateurishness.
The doctor relates a story to Ryan about a coyote, Bill that does not like to clean up after himself. Eventually his house becomes jammed full of garbage and he cannot function in it. His parents convince him to clean it up. After he does, he feels so great, he throws a party. Good metaphor, I would have worked on it a bit more, though. And, most importantly, I would have chopped Bill’s whole saga in half, at least. It wanes on far too long and competes for attention with Ryan’s story. I’m unsure what the main plot is supposed to be. Is Ryan’s story framing Bill’s, or is Bill’s complimenting Ryan’s?
The lustre and quality of the illustrations is also compromised in an attempt to separate the two stories. I’m no artist, but I would have substituted a different pallet of colours rather than minimize Bill’s pages to just brown and white (there is colour for Bill's party). Not since Winnie the Poo have those type of illustrations been able to satisfy a child. The lack of style and imagination does not speak well to Weber’s talents as an illustrator.
But, to continue on- the doctor draws the comparison for Ryan and shows him how his food travels through his body. The illustrations to accompany this portion, while consistent with the quality of the others, could be quite useful to any parent struggling with potty training. The diagrams clearly show how the food travels and turns into poop, which makes explaining the process a whole lot easier. However, they could easily have been merged into one illustration.
There are helpful suggestions on what foods to eat to soften poops, and which ones to avoid. There is also a list of activities to help your child envision the BM process. These are wonderful components of this book, labelled the "Poop Program". But really? Line drawings with zero in the expression department, competing plots, overload of info? I’d chop a few hundred words, hire a decent illustrator, and package it all a little differently (I could go on about that), then this book would really be something to write about. It could be a real classic potty training book. It already has the title. Right?
In the end, I feel like this is one of those books that EA was spammed with, though this was published by legitimate people-the American Psychological Association. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, people, please get an editor that has some experience with writing something other than a thesis ...please. I still want to like this book.
It Hurts When I Poop was given a five star rating on Amazon and there are plenty of parents over there who are singing its praises. But, I stand by my guns. Looking at this book from a writer's point of view, it fell short, even if the concept was great and arguably useful.
By the way, 2 ¾ year-old son is also a fan of this book. Well, not the whole thing, just the poop diagrams, but he is a toddler, and a boy, and loves anything to do with his bodily functions. He’s not going to grow out of that, is he?
