Princess Stay Awake

Princess Stay Awake

Written by Giles Paley-Phillips and Illustrated by Adriana J. Puglisi 
Published by Maverick

 

 

After first reading this book, my first thought was, this is my daughter! We are currently going through a phase of fighting sleep in the day and refusing to go to bed at night, utterly exhausted! I’m sure other parents will be able to relate to this book, or if you’re one of the lucky ones who has a child that sleeps through the night, well, I’m sure you’ve heard of those sleepless children.

 

 

Princess Stay Awake is about Layla, a little princess who refuses to go to bed and doesn’t like sleep at all. Layla likes to skip around her room, play with all her toys and generally avoid shutting her eyes for a kip. The King and Queen try everything; singing lullabies, reading tales and even instructing a wizard to cast a sleeping spell - which backfires and makes him sleep instead! They call in a jester which just makes Layla laugh out loud. They make a knight run Layla around a maze and touch her toes to see if that would tire her out but it has no effect. "Perhaps a softer bed?", the king next suggests, but this just makes Layla imagine her bed is a trampoline and that she’s in the circus. The King and Queen are at their wits end (I know how they feel) when they have one more idea… It’s time to send for Grandma!

 

Grandma arrives in Layla’s room and suggests not sleeping at all and to stay awake. Layla is rather confused and unsure but as she says “I’m Princess Stay Awake!”, her eyes begin to droop, her legs and arms go floppy, and with a yawn, Princess Layla settles down to bed. Hooray!

 

This funny tale where Giles Paley-Phillips uses rhyme, which works and flows well throughout the story. The illustrations are big and bright, and the reader can clearly see what cheeky Layla is up to - avoiding going to bed!

This is the third Maverick book by author Giles Paley-Phillips - and after scary monsters and dark chilling tales, this rather different tale will be loved by your little princesses and Grandmas, because everyone knows Grandmas usually do know best. Princess Stay Awake is available to buy now in all good bookshops. More information on the title can be found on the Maverick website.