Wash Your Hands! Coronavirus prompts 2000% surge in sales of The Little Princess book

Parents are keen to encourage their children about the importance of handwashing to prevent the spread of Covid-19

Sales of a book from the Little Princess series, in which the popular children’s character learns to wash her hands, have surged by 2,000 per cent amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to The Guardian, publisher Anderson Press has seen “unprecedented” demand for I Don’t Want to Wash My Hands!, with sales prompting an “immediate hasty reprint of the title”.

The book follows the Little Princess as she plays outside, sneezes, goes on her potty and plays with her dog, all the while being asked to wash her hands.

“WHY?” she demands. “Because of germs and nasties,” the Maid says.

Author and illustrator Tony Ross said the book was inspired by his own children, as he struggled to get them to wash their hands.

“We’re in strange times,” said Andersen Press representative Paul Black, “and all just trying to find our way through it – now more than ever with children at home and parents feeling the pressure of home-schooling as well as working from home, it appears that books are helping people have open and honest conversations with youngsters, without being too dramatic and scaring them.”

Audible currently has hundreds of audiobook titles for children, teenagers and adults available to stream for free.

The website has said the books will remain free for “as long as schools are closed”.