Even Firemen Go to the Potty: A Potty Trng Story

Comments about Even Firemen Go to the Potty: A Potty Trng Story:

I gave this book two stars b/c it is a good concept and has sturdy lift-the-flap pages with nice illustrations. It tries to normalize the idea that everyone* uses the potty. It doesn't get more than two stars b/c it is so blatantly gender-biased. Of the ten pages, each depicting a person in a different profession, only one is portrayed as a woman. The woman, a doctor, has a ponytail as the only female attribute; it may well be a man with a ponytail. The two authors, both women, specify five of the characters as men in the text (plus one male animal). The other five are gender-neutral. Bad move on the authors' part, worse move on the illustrator's part, and terrible judgment by the editor!
Girls will not identify with the characters; apparently only adult men go to the potty, with the exception of an androgynous doctor*. My two year old son likes the book and gets almost entirely gender equality messages at home; therefore I won't return it.
It is not marketed as a potty book for boys; those have their place and I do recommend "My Big Boy Potty" by Joanna Cole, which also comes in a girl version.
I do not recommend buying this book. We're not in the 1950's anymore.