I Want to Do It Myself!: A Little Princess Story

My Little Princess

by Tony Ross

The little princess is determined to go on a camp-out without anyone's help.

Genres: Picture Books, Princesses, Childrens, Juvenile, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Tony Ross is a British illustrator and author of children's picture books. He was a student at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. Ross has had quite a few occupations, such as cartoonist, graphic designer, art director at an advertising agency, senior lecturer in art and head of the illustration course at Manchester Polytechnic.
Ross won the 1986 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, picture books category, for Ich komm dich holen!, (I'm coming to get you! - Andersen, 1984. He was runner-up for the 1990 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject, for Dr. Xargle's book of Earth Tiggers.

Meet the illustrator
What is your favourite animal?
A cat
What is your favourite boy’s name?
Bill
What is your favourite girl’s name?
Roxanne
What is your favourite food?
Lobster
What is your favourite music?
Irish
What is your favourite hobby?
Sailing

Reviews

[Anna Frame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Reaction- I like this book because of its message. I do not think it is very challenging or very thought provoking but I think it is still one that would benefit young students. I like the little princess' attempts to take ownership of her trip and I think that it shows that it is okay to ask for help.

Purposes:
Read aloud to kindergarten or 1st grade
-enjoyable story and the kids can relate to the princess in the way that they are starting to want to be more independent of their parents
-the illustrations are bright and fun. They also make it easier to imagine what is happening on the camping trip

Curriculum: read aloud
-discuss being independent
-discuss asking for help when its needed
-narrative structure (clear goals are set in the attempt of completing the camping trip alone)

I think this would be a good read for when there may be some kids that are having issues in the class with being stubborn or being afraid to ask for help when they need it. That can also be applied in a classroom setting.

[Rumena Khatun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is by the popular Tony Ross and features familiar characters. In the story the princess wants to do everything herself including camping but unfortunately she forgets to bring all the equipment! So secretly her family help her out. It is a cheeky story that shares a secret with the reader as the main character does not know how she is being helped. This gives an opportunity for discussion to assess comprehension of the story. This is a fun story that I think children will enjoy.

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

Miss 3 likes the cartoon series (I don't particularly) so I thought she might like the picture book. She liked the idea of the phrase 'I can do it all myself' but she found the story confusing as she didn't really grasp the idea that everyone was helping the princess but keeping themselves hidden.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Do it by 'self" is a family phrase from my own young years, so I had to give this book a try. I liked it, but the nature of the illustrations might make it more suited for a one-on-one read than for a group storytime. There are a lot of tiny details that make the joke (the staff hiding in the bushes, for example) that would be harder to see in a larger group. Still, if you have a bunch in that independent stage, this might be a fun one to include. The repeated refrain would be an easy one to make interactive for the audience.

[Catarina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being very generous because the artwork saved this book. This was about a whiny princess who acted like she could do all the things herself (shocker: she could not), and then she kept thinking while she was getting help that it was her?? I wanted to close this book by the time her bed was made for her, but I was reading to my son and wanted to make sure he heard the whole story. Would not read again, would not recommend to others. Maybe I just felt this story could have had a hundred better endings, but again - read at your leisure, make your own decisions.

[Danielle Robertson Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of how this story ends. Even though people have been helping her the whole time, the princess insists she can do everything herself? So is the moral that adults need to let kids go camping without food or shelter, in order to learn their limits "the hard way"? The princess doesn't do anything herself and worse I don't think she learns the skills to do it herself the next time around. So we are not learning independence, gratitude, or humility here.

[Rachel Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little princess that wants to do everything on her own. She goes on a camping trip and decides to only take things that she can carry. She ONLY wants to do things herself. She is very good about doing things herself but there is her servants that sneak things out to her that she forgets. It's a cute book I like it.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A princess wants to go camping on her own but how are things she didn't pack magically appearing. Preschool or one on one the younger kids didn't get enough time in storytime to see the things hidden in the pictures.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I relate so very strongly to the Little Princess. As a former child who wanted to do everything Myself, I think the story is a missed opportunity to teach an important lesson. Those enabling adults are doing nothing to help her in the long run!

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

lololol at every child who thinks they did anything by themselves. This book rings SOOOOO true.

[Adam Nickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarlett aged 6 *****

Poppy aged 4 *****

[Mr x · Rating 5 out of 5]

If she was not her then she princess

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable children’s book.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little princess, feeling very independent, decides to go camping alone and insists on doing everything herself. She has a wonderful time, not realizing that she had assistance all along. Funny ending; great illustrations.

[Bea Elwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not impressed. It's a cute idea that the Princess wants to go camping by herself - to do everything without the help of anyone - but when she forgets a tent, food, sleeping bag and her toothbrush, different people from the prime minister to the maid, secretly do everything for her and in the end she learns nothing and even declares she had a wonderful time because she did it all by herself.

I'm sorry, call me old fashion but I still think we learn subconsciously about how to deal with the larger world from the stories we read as children and I don't see the humor in this book.

[Shanshad Whelan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing particularly redeeming about this story. The little princess herself is bossy, dull and particularly dimwitted to the point that she thinks she's just forgetting she packed things when her subjects sneak in and "help" her. While a story about a child being self sufficient with surreptitious help from adults to make it so can be cute, this one never has the girl do anything for herself really and isn't at all sweet or cute. Maybe I'm missing something in the manner of this storytelling but it won't be a book I read to my kids.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this. The premise is that the princess does it all herself (and, therefore, presumably shows her competence), but the reality is that she forgets everything and somebody has to do it for her. Because people take care of what she's forgotten surreptitiously, she thinks that she has accomplished everything and therefore still thinks of herself as supremely talented. Hardly. And what kind of lesson does that teach the children reading this book?!

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 2 out of 5]

If your child loves princesses, and is fond of the (oft tv-animated) trope of a child trying to do everything themselves while adults slyly take care of them, this may work for you. However, the humor in the princess's express desires for independence being foiled and the uncertainty whether she really notices she's being taken care of just didn't grab us. The pictures were amusing but generic ironic pricess tale style.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Little Princess goes camping, she prefers to do everything herself...and of course she fails to notice her servants lurking the trees to save the day (repeatedly). While adult readers will find the princess' persist nature as bordering on irritating, my little girl audience just ate this one up! Little Princess stars in two other picture book titles.

[Breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The expression on this little girl face when someone ask her if she needs help is priceless. This book is sending a great message to children. The message that the book is sending is that you will always need somebody. You can't do everything by yourself.



Extension: The children will act out the story.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure I get little princess. Are we supposed to like her? In this one she insists on doing everything herself on a camping trip, packs nothing for it, and her loyal subjects secretly come to her rescue. Sweet on the part of the subjects, but they're work is never rewarded.

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not entirely sure about this book. I wanted to like it and it was entertaining, but it just seems to me to be a little rude or weird. Not one that enjoyed or thought that my kids particularly enjoyed.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The princess' family helps her out as she heads on a camping trip where she wants to do it all herself. Could be good to use with pre-schoolers and a discussion about attitude! Another hardcover book I found on my shelf that I hadn't read!

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

fiction-2011

This book was okay. The pictures were cute, but the story wasn't very interesting. I think kids would like it because the little girl thinks she is doing everything herself, but she has people in the castle actually doing it all.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know how often kids want to do things for themselves, and how often, despite their best efforts, they can't. So would they find the ending to this story funny or irritating?

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this funny, but don't know whether the little princesses I read with will like or hate it. It's very British in approach. I think I should probably get some others in the series.

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan but Matt's asked for it three nights in a row so it gets an extra star. He also likes the joke that she doesn't do any of the jobs by herself.

[Mfoot]

Je veux le faire toute seule !

[Shelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some books about bratty princesses are done in a comical way, this one was not.

[Jeff Bloomquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Erika Favorite