I Want Two Birthdays! (My Little Princess)
by Tony Ross
Date: 2008
Publisher: Andersen Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library
The Little Princess wants to have two birthdays! Very well, says the prime minister. Of course, when the princess sees how much fun two birthdays are, she must have three. Then four. Then more! But the more birthdays she has, the less special they are. Fortunately, the king has a clever solution up his royal sleeve.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
I Want Two Birthdays! is about a princess who--you guessed it!--wants two birthdays. Why? Because she enjoys them so much. Since royals have a public birthday and a private one, it's easy enough to accommodate the request. But the princess thinks that she might have more fun if she had three birthdays. And if three, why not four? Eventually, she ends up with a whole year full of birthdays. But this has some unexpected consequences. There's no time to do anything else. She always has to be clean and wearing her birthday best. And the presents, quite frankly, suck. Nobody can afford to buy 365 presents, so the princess starts getting things like chewed gum and broken clothespins. The king then comes up with a solution to the problem. It's unclear whether the princess ever learns her lesson, but I would hope that with some gentle reminders from the adults in her life, she'll eventually get it.
The idea of something special not being so special anymore reminded me of one of my childhood favourites, Mrs. Pig's Bulk Buy by Mary Rayner. It's a good concept for a picture book, showing kids that special things are just that... and when they become commonplace, they're not as special anymore. While it might seem like a great idea (in theory) to have a birthday every day, this story clearly shows why having just one or two birthdays a year is a much better option.
Quotable moment:
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
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