How to Potty Train Your Porcupine

March 1, 2020
The long and short of a pointy potty predicament, from a New Yorker cartoonist and debut picture-book creator. Readers undisturbed by the image of bright yellow urine dripping from porcupine quills will probably be the best possible audience for this entry into the potty-training genre. A pair of children (they are biracial, with a black dad and white mom) take it upon themselves to housetrain their new porcupine pet. She can't be diapered, the cat box is a nonstarter, the backyard is too public, and spreading newspapers is a bust. Could potty training be the answer? Alas, this porcupine is reticent to even attempt the job, thus leading the children to try every conceivable method of trickery and persuasion. In the end, the easiest solution (asking nicely) turns out to be the best--and the most anticlimactic. Title notwithstanding, this isn't a guide for teaching tots the ins and outs of toilet training but rather a humorous descent into absurdity with a scatological edge best appreciated by those who have fairly recently conquered the potty or who are watching younger siblings master the feat. The porcupine herself is charming, and Toro's visual gags and silly watercolors mostly make up for the flat ending. At best, droll, at worst, kind of gross. Unless you've got a porcupine who needs it, hand this to the trained and not the trainees. (Picture book. 3-6)

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