I Want

The set up in this picture book is simple and brilliant. A mother offers her child a rice cracker in an ordinary, messy house, strewn with toys and laundry. The only unusual thing is that the mother is a witch and when the child wails ‘I WANT COOKIEEE!!!’ she is able to transform the rice cake with her wand. A brilliant psychological reading could surely be made of this witch-mother, with her magical ability to fulfil her baby’s desires. But things get out of hand once the child grabs the wand themselves – with their impulses no longer mediated through the adult, chaos soon ensues. The mother is turned into a clown; a tiger appears; a dinosaur, castle and pirate ship pile up precariously in their garden; there is some business with jelly – and then the baby decides he wants to fly…

It’s a really interesting exploration of the power dynamics between parent and child, and how getting what you want is rarely satisfying. What I particularly enjoyed was a pivot in the plot near the end where the witch-mother grabs her wand back and starts thinking about what she wants for a change: her own clothes, a clean house, a cuddle. I was reminded of Jill Murphy’s sublime Five Minutes Peace – the story does that rare thing of making the child appreciate that mothers also have their own desires and needs.

Charlotte Ager’s pictures ping with energy, as well as the kind of detail that will reveal itself gradually to a child over several reads. I particularly enjoyed the way the wonderous rubs up against the very mundane details of crusts and keys on the table, and pizza boxes on the bed. It ends with the witch-mother declaring ‘I want sleep’, and I’m sure many parents reading this aloud will feel recognised. Highly recommended.