The Princess and the Pee by Effua Gleed is a whimsical and laugh-out-loud take on the classic fairy tale, reimagined with a clever modern twist. This charming story blends humor, wit, and a touch of absurdity as it follows a princess navigating unexpected challenges that put her royal patience and ingenuity to the test. Gleed’s playful writing and quirky characters make for an engaging read, while the underlying themes of resilience and self-acceptance add depth to the hilarity. Perfect for readers who enjoy fairy tale retellings with a humorous spin, this book is a lighthearted and delightful escape.

This story is aimed to provide support and comfort to those young ones who due to worries/stress/anxiety wet their beds. The lovely princess Amma is a gorgeous little princess who unwillingly causes a lot of stress to everyone in the palace, as every morning she wakes up, having had a wee in her sleep.

The king and queen are worries and the lord of the laundry, the lady of the linens and the manager of the mattresses rush around every morning to clean up and make new. Everyone thinks they have a solution for the problem and poor Amma has to try all sorts of weird things like eating tons of toast before bedtime or sleeping with lemons under her pillow.

But, finally, grandma Grace comes to the rescue and points out that all Amma really needs is a bit of support and reassurance that no matter what, she is and always be loved. And with a nice warm bath, lots of songs and bedtime stories, made all the worries fly away and help Amma with her anxiety.

It's great that there are finally more books out there to address topics such as this one, and for its purpose I think Effua Gleed does a great job.

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

A great text which addresses bed wetting and toilet training. I read this to my daughter and it really helped to gently reinforce her learning about using the toilet but that it's also okay to have accidents. Not everyone will want to read about this topic but it is such an important part of growing up that I think being able to access a text like this is great.

This was such a sweet story. I know a lot of children deal with wetting the bed and I wholeheartedly believe this book would help a lot of those children. I loved the representation in this book, also.

The Princess and the Pee
by Effua Gleed

A sweet and loving story that keeps the young readers guess what will happen next to princess Amma.

Princess Amma always worries at the night, because her bed will be wet in the next morning. Everyone in the castle helps her, but still, the worries stay.

The imagination of the author is amazing. This definitely keeps the young readers to read the book. The illustration is extraordinarily beautiful. You will fall into the story immediately. The love between Princess Amma and her supportive grandma is touching.

If the young readers have the same worry as Princess Amma, you are not alone and this is a great book for you!

Pub date: March 5, 2024

This was a super sweet children's picture book with cute and colourful illustrations.

I thought it was quite clever, and delivered an important message. Bedwetting is something that sometimes happens, and if it happens, it's something that should be discussed without shame or embarrassment. So I think this book may be quite useful in terms of approaching the topic with children.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

When we picked up this book, all I saw was the beautiful illustrations and the topic of bet-wetting. My daughter never had this kind of problem so I thought that it was a safe choice and would not trigger anything. BUT. The princess in the book is wetting her bed because she is afraid in the dark. My daughter didn't have this problem either. However, since we read this book, she doesn't feel comfortable in the dark room, and is always asking me to leave the lamp on. Not good.

This was a cute little story for the ones who worry about wetting the bed. I love the aspect of a princess having the issue as it kind of lets kids know that anyone can get worried about wetting the bed. It is definitely on my to buy list for my library.

I adored The Princess and the Pee immensely! To tackle a tough, and sometimes embarrassing, issue for children with a fairytale retelling is brilliant! I love how lighthearted and gentle the story was laid out for young readers. This is sure to be a favorite in many classrooms and homes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This lovely twist on the classic fairy tale is an ideal purchase for children who struggle with anxiety about bedwetting.

Set against the backdrop of beautiful and vibrant illustrations, this rhyming story tells of Amma, a young princess who is not dry at night. Amma is very fortunate and lives in a palace, with her family and their staff. Everyone fusses over Amma and makes a huge deal out of her nocturnal accidents. Different methods are attempted and nothing works, poor Amma is so overwhelmed by the attention, embarrassed by her difficulty and anxious from the pressure she is putting on herself (not to mention external pressure). Nothing seems to work.

One day, Amma's grandmother has had enough, she steps in, dismisses the staff and shuts the door on all the fuss and furore and spends time with Amma, relaxing her, providing reassurance and distracting her with stories and fun instead of focusing on bedwetting.

The next morning, Amma wakes after a lovely sleep and her bed is dry.

We loved this book which tackles a common issue for younger children. It normalises their situation and the anxiety it can bring, and by presenting it as a problem that even a princess can have, it hopefully shows little ones that it can happen to absolutely anyone.

Amma's grandmother models the perfect management of the anxiety associated with bedwetting and we particularly liked the way that after the first dry night, she reassured Amma that she too had wet the bed when she was younger and stresses that accidents may still happen, and that is nothing to worry about.

Aimed at children age 3-5 but also useful for slightly older children and for parents to read to siblings to ensure that they are supportive and empathetic too.

Thank you to NetGalley and FLC for sending this ebook for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

This book will help kids be more accepting of kids that wet the bed, particularly the bedwetter themself who will learn that people do things on their own timeline. The wise grandmother teaches her that once she is not so preoccupied with wetting her bed, she might eventually stop.

In "The Princess and the Pee", Princess Amma has a dream life—until she goes to bed, when her dream becomes a nightmare. Every morning, when she wakes up, the sheets are wet, and the palace has to hustle and bustle to make things right again. Her mother has suggested things and her father has suggested things and the servants have suggested things and nothing has worked—what's a stressed-out princess to do?

The illustrations here are wonderful and playful (Amma's hair, oh my gosh). I love how thoroughly supportive everyone is, and that the book acknowledges that pushing for a solution can be something of an anti-solution in and of itself. Amma's lucky to have the grandmother she does. As a bonus, Amma and her family are Black (and the palace staff is diverse), and I am always just happy to see stories with casual but overt diversity. (More stories that non-white kids can see themselves in, please!)

All told, a thoroughly well designed and thought-out book that may provide some comfort for little kids struggling with bed-wetting, but also with nightmares or anxiety.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Heartfelt story about a princess so worried every night that she couldn't help but weg her bed every night. Perfect bedtime story

"A little pee will never come between you and me."

Holy moly, this book is delightful: charming, funny, and sweet. Amma, a princess with a heart as big and brave as her Afro, still wets the bed and even her very loving parents are unable to offer any helpful guidance. Meanwhile, the palace workers suggest remedies such as tickling her on the pot before she goes to sleep to get out all the pee, sticking lemons under her sheets because lemons are a cure-all, or eating toast to soak up all the pee.

Only her grandmother, the dragon-fighting Grandma Grace, realizes that Amma's bed-wetting stems in part from her anxiety and that patience and time will help more than anything else.

The illustrations are fabulous and I laughed out loud several times. My little ones are still in diapers at night, but I'm ordering this ASAP for the day when that's not the case.

A joy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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.

4.5 stars.

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.

I loved this book! I think the message is really important and I enjoyed seeing the healthy way in which the family helped the princess!

What a perfectly precious story about a child who is struggling with bed wetting and a big imagination! Love the whole thing and it really took something that could be so hard for kids and made it simple!

I loved this book. I thought it was such a sweet story. There are so many kids that have problems with wetting the bed and this book helps to show that it is normal and eventually the problem can go away. The illustrations were great and I loved how the story was told.

Once upon a BED… what a cute beginning! Its turn out the kids was falling in love to read the book. Its suitable for bedtime story. Read aloud with your kids with different intonation of voices based on character. Worth for read!

If this isn’t just the cutest title ever!
A story entirely about how peeing the bed isn’t great; but it doesn’t make people love you less. Plus it reiterates something parents may need to be reminded of, that stress you put on your child to not wet the bed could be setting them back and causing the very problem you want to stop. Approaching issues like this with compassion and kindness are always for the best for the child.
Plus you gotta love the POC representation here!! This one is definitely going in my repertoire of children’s books to purchase for someone struggling with this issue, or about to start potty training.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.