This is the Children’s Bookshelf and I’m Sue Ann Martin
I REALLY WANT TO WIN written in rhyme by Simon Philip and illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti is a lesson about the fact that we can’t always be the winner.
When the story begins, we meet a little girl who will not even consider the possibility of losing the upcoming race, the tug of war, the dancing contest or the spelling bee. But, alas, she trips while running, is paired against a girl who is much taller during the tug of war, has a dance routine that is not that exciting and loses the spelling bee after being given a shocking twist------“I have to spell ventriloquist…”
All these defeats make the little girl angry. Then she sees that taller girl, defeated by another child in the art contest, shake the winner’s hand and congratulate him. The tall girl then tells her nobody can always win and urges her to take part in the things she loves. And the little girl, who loves baking cakes, follows her advice and enters the Cake Bake Off.
The illustrations are full of fun-filled details such has little dogs that mimic their master’s emotions throughout and the perplexed look on the face of each Bake-Off judge when they realize that all the cakes were well done. The final spread is eye popping as the reader sees the joyful celebration when the little girl wins first place in the Cake Bake Off for doing what she loves to do.
I Really Want to Win written by Simon Philip and illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti is a delightfully told lesson about not having to always be the winner for young readers 3-5 years of age, (Orchard Books/ an imprint of Scholastic, 2021).
The Children’s Bookshelf is a production of WCMU. Links to the podcast and the activity questions, ideal for home use, can be found at Children’s Bookshelf dot org.
Activity Questions for I REALLY WANT TO WIN
For children 3 years of age: The celebration at the end of this book is full of fun-filled drawings. Look at the last spread (the last double-paged illustration) and find the following: a gold trophy, a grey horse, a yellow horn, a black cat, red strawberries, a black baton, a red cap, a brown violin, red hair, four blue balloons, a black camera and yellow confetti. Have fun on your colorful hunt!
For children 4-5 years of age: The little girl, her brown dog, the girl with the red hair and her white dog are all characters in this story. However, none of them have a name. Based on what they do in this story and what they say give each of them a name. The names can be as long or as short as you wish and as serious or playful as you wish.
The little girl in this story loves to bake cakes! Have you ever helped your mom, dad or grandparents bake a cake? What is your favorite kind of cake to eat? Why? Look at the cake that the little girl baked in this story. If you were to bake a cake that then wins an award what do you think it would look like? Think about it. Use your imagination and then draw a picture of your award winner! HAVE FUN.