I Want to Win!

Tony Ross strikes gold again with I Want to Win!, another enjoyable picture book in the ‘Little Princess’ series. This time around, the princess must learn that you cannot always win, but you can always try your hardest, and that winning is much more fun when you really deserve it. Tony Ross’s great skill is in the relationship between words and illustrations. By keeping the text level and earnest, he allows the pictures to depict a background world of chaotic hilarity – a familiar irony that parents of irrepressible youngsters will instantly recognise. Some of the illustrations in this book are amongst Ross’s finest; one scene of a science experiment gone awry stands out as a real work of art. The grammarian in me takes issue with the fact there are prizes for ‘painting’, ‘science’, ‘numbers’ and ‘poem’. Why not ‘poetry’? My toddler made no such bones about it and the book has already borne repeat readings in this household (albeit with me reading the word as ‘poetry’). The story is set in a school, yet the simple repetitive text does seem better suited to a nursery-aged child.