The Princess and the Pee - Effua Gleed - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Effua Gleed

ILLUSTRATOR: Juanita Londoño Gaviria

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A lovely story about a little princess who has a bed-wetting problem. Loved the story as well as the illustrations. Great for kids who share the same problem and are looking for moral support and a helpful suggestion.

Story Synopsis:

Princess Amma has a lovely time all day at her palace, playing with her parents the King and the Queen, and her Grandma Grace. However, at night, her imagination works against her, bring a host of worries. The result? A wet bed in the morning. No matter how many suggestions the palace staff and the royal parents try out, nothing helps. Until it is time for Grandma Grace and her wisdom.

What’s not to love about this story! Every single bit is charming, right from the punny title to the theme to the plot to the illustrations.

Amma with her giant afro makes for the most adorable princess. Her imagination is as wild as her hair, and her vulnerability endears herself to us. It was nice to see how willingly she tried all the “remedies” without complaining even once, knowing that it was all for her own good.

I loved the other characters also, whether royalty or staff. My favourite part was that they didn’t stick to the tradition script of royal stories. The king faints, the queen isn’t always dressed to the hilt, the grandmother isn’t depicted as a frail old lady. It’s nice to see the standard tropes kicked out.

Most importantly, the book tackles the problem of bed-wetting in the most practical way. None of the adults in the book shame Amma for the issue. All of them are supportive, and keep trying new techniques that might resolve her problem. Sometimes, they are a little too keen to help, and the repercussions of this unintended stress are also depicted. It shows adults that fussing over the child will be as unproductive as scolding the child for wetting the bed.

While Grandma Grace offers a solution that ultimately works for Amma, I LOVED how the book stressed that the solution isn’t instant and permanent, and how the family’s love for Amma won’t change even if accidents were to happen in future.

The story is mostly written in simple prose, with only small chunks of text on each page. Grandma Grace is the only one who speaks in rhyming lines, with her AABB verses adding to the charm of the book. This offers a great way of letting kids see /hear the difference between ordinary prose and rhyming prose.

The illustrations are adorable! It was awesome to see a Black royal family at the helm of the story. Amma’s hair and her expressions are so beautifully sketched! The remaining characters are also drawn well, with Grandma Grace exuding adorable granny vibes whenever she appears. I especially loved how people of various sizes are depicted in the content. The parents and grandmother aren’t waif-thin as in most picture books but of realistic proportions.

This is not a theme commonly tackled in picture books. So I am thrilled that there’s a great option for little ones struggling with this problem. I hope the book offers them solace and hope. I also appreciate how the book didn’t try to assign a reason to Amma’s problem. Giving it a fixed cause would have restricted the effectiveness of the story. By keeping the label blank, Amma’s story becomes accessible to any child facing the problem without necessarily sharing the same reason.

Much recommended to any child who suffers from the same issue. The vocabulary makes it a great option for ages 3-6.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Princess and the Pee”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.