About The Author
A little bit more about Rachel Gristock, author of Mrs Wee & Mr Poo
How I became "Mrs Wee"
They say everyone has at least one book in them. If you’d asked me when I was younger, I would have said some kind of sci-fi thriller or a self help book. Little did I know it would be a tiny book about poo.
It all started when my first child was learning to use the potty and I wanted to find an amusing way to engage their interest and communicate how it all works.
I wrote the poem sitting on the decking one sunny afternoon, reading my ideas out loud and seeing which ones got a laugh from my little one. After about an hour, I drew some anthropomorphic wee and poo characters and we read it together for the first time. She laughed and carried on playing with her toys.
Later she used the potty and we celebrated by putting a reward sticker on the poem and went together to flush Mrs Wee & Mr Poo down the toilet. Cheering “Weeee!” as they swirled down the drain. She laughed again, and I realised in that moment that laughter creates learning.
I showed the poem to my mum and she said that I should publish it. I thought she was a proud crazy mama and proceeded to ignore her for two whole years. But she kept on asking, and eventually I decided to test my poem on a selection of my friends’ children.
To my surprise, they loved it… and a few of my friends told me that it made all the difference. Fewer accidents, no more daytime nappies.
But I couldn’t publish without someone to illustrate the story as my penmanship is limited only to rhyming prose. I needed someone who had a great sense of humour and wouldn’t be put off by the excremental subject matter. Eventually I found Mr Paul Winward who worked tirelessly to give Mrs Wee & Mr Poo the cute friendly faces they have today!