I Want Two Birthdays!

My Little Princess

by Tony Ross

The Little Princess wants to have two birthdays, just like the Queen, which means twice as many presents every year! When she realizes how much fun two birthdays are, she decides she wants three, then four. But the more birthdays she has, the less special they are. Perhaps having one birthday a year isn’t so boring after all.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Princesses, Royalty

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2008

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

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

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:

[Radha TheLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This helped my daughter get over her desire to take over everyone else's birthday party. Thanks again, Mr. Ross!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple and lovely book to use to entertain kindergarten children and introduce them to English!

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

Princess has such fun on her birthday that she wants a second one--more presents, more cake, more everything. Soon she demands a third birthday, then a fourth, then every day of the year is declared her birthday. Sounds great, but the presents get lousier, and the days just don't seem special anymore.

I was disappointed in this Junior Library Guild selection. Just wasn't much story, not much originality.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birthdays are awesome. So awesome that our heroine, a princess, decrees that she is going to have TWO birthdays. Then THREE birthdays. Soon her kingdom is celebrating her birthday every day - but less and less guests can make it to her parties, and her presents become smaller and smaller. Perhaps 365 birthdays is a little much...

Very cute. Didn't like the illustrations much, but it's a cute book anyways.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps, like the Little Princess, you have wondered if it might be an advantage if you could have two birthdays each year. Especially because her mother, the Queen always has two birthdays.

The Queen explains to the girl that queens always have two birthdays. "There's one for me to share with you, and one to share with all the people."

The plot cascades from there, with more and more "annual birthdays" being given to the demanding little Princess.

Unfortunately, the more birthdays she has, the less special they are.

RATING THIS BOOK

It's a FIVE STAR wonder.

I find Tony Ross's story -- and Tony's illustrations, as well -- to be gently hilarious. For example, here's the Little Princess complaining to her maid:

"Oh NO!" groaned the Little Princess. "Not again! Why can't I play like I used to? Why can't I get dirty?"

"Because today is your BIRTHDAY," said the Maid. "Put on this nice clean crown."

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a clever premise and lively, interesting illustrations. I can't wait to read it to my six and seven year old students. Who doesn't love having a birthday? If one is good, two must be better. The story is humorous and provide plenty of opportunity for making predictions, inferring, and discussion about the result of the Little Princess' ever increasing wish for days out of the ordinary.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little princess enjoys her birthday so much that she wants more than one that year, which is granted her. Enjoying two birthdays, she decides she wants more and more birthdays until she finally realizes that it’s not special anymore. Her father the king presented her with a great idea to make it special again. Really cute illustrations.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little princess wants her birthday to occur more often so she asks for more birthdays. Will she ever get enough? Cute and constitenct with the the Little Princess personality. Preschool and up for length.

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a brat the Little Princess is

[Sourimak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une histoire pour apprendre à profiter de son anniversaire et à ne pas trop réclamer. Un peu loufoque et absurde pour mener la leçon de vie jusqu'au bout avec l'habituel style de Tony Ross.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE my birthday. I could relate to this book! :)

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiled little princess.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the point this book made, that if you had a birthday every day, it wouldn't be special. But I did not like the resolution, because it didn't really make all the other birthdays go away.

[Kiyoko · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must not like these spoiled rotten princess stories. A little princess is spoiled by parents and staff who refuse to tell her "no", so she goes from having a birthday party once a year to having a birthday party every day.
1 star

[Lauren Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a young princess who wants two birthdays like her mother who is the queen. However, once she got two birthdays, and once she got two she wanted three birthdays, and so on. This went on until the princess’ birthday was everyday of the year. She liked this concept at first, but eventually people stopped coming to her parties, and stopped bringing her presents, and her cakes became lousier and lousier each birthday party. The princess wanted a special day that was unlike any of the others, so she decided to give herself an “unbirthday.” This day took place on the day she was born. On this day people brought presents, they ate cake, and had a great time. I thought this was a cute story and relatable to young kids. I remember when I was younger I always wanted two birthdays, one on my real birthday in November, and the other in the summer so I could have fun swimming pool birthday parties. My mom would never give me two birthdays, instead we would have my friends over for a summer barbeque where us girls would slip and slide in the backyard. This is a great book for my classroom library.

[Christine L. Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of these princess books by Tony Ross. His drawings don't overemphasize her royalty but rather her every child persona. He makes it easy to imagine this child in reality.

This is a story of a precocious child who decides that one birthday a year isn't sufficient. She likes the adulation she receives on her birthday and wants it more and more often. As a result it gets less and less meaningful. She finds out that getting what you wish isn't always getting what you want.

This book would be very appealing to children for the telling of celebrating birthdays and to adults for the moral its gives the children.

I am also reading the book, Yes! You can Learn How to Write Children's Books, Get Them Published and Build a Successful Writing Career. Though it is written for children's writers, it can apply to all writers. I am blogging my reaction and results. If you would like to read the results in action, here is where you can find it... http://TheWriteChris.blogspot.com

[Emily Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a princess who absolutely loves celebrating her birthday. She loves it so much that she asks for two birthdays a year.. and then three.. and four.. until every day of the year is her birthday. She loves it at first, but then her cakes get smaller and her presents get worse, and it's not as much fun anymore. Since every day is her birthday she has to wake up early and look nice too, and she starts to get really tired of that as well! So finally she wishes that one day a year will be her un-birthday! There are many great lessons in this book, especially about greed and patience. I thought that this book was really cute and although I don't necessarily think I would use it in my classroom, students would love it as a great read! I will always keep a copy on the shelf for students to grab.

[Monique Isaak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Want Two Birthdays, by Tony Ross is about a little princess who is jealous that the queen gets two birthdays and she doesn’t. The little princess has a talk with the prime minister and convinces him to put two birthdays for her on the calendar. After her second birthday passes by, she wants a third and fourth. The little princess wanted her birthday to be every day. Her dream came true and everyone celebrated her birthday every day, but she wasn’t satisfied. Her birthday was no longer special. The little princess wishes for a day that is her “unbirthday.” The princess realizes that birthdays are only special when they are celebrated once a year. The lesson behind this book is great for children to understand. In elementary classrooms, many teachers let their students bring treats or celebrate their students’ birthdays in some form. This book can show how special a birthday truly is.

[Haley Shubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

When something special happens all the time, then it isn't special anymore! This book is a perfect example of why it is important to cherish the special things for being just that. In "I Want Two Birthdays!", the Little Princess fails to recognize the significance of her special birthday, so through many additions, ends up with a birthday on every day of the year. Eventually, she becomes bored and upset because her birthdays aren't special anymore, so she decides to have one UN-birthday every year and celebrate that day instead. This picture book is an excellent way to teach young readers about the value of having something special. It also contains word repetition that can be used to teach new vocabulary.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha, ha! What a great book to spark a discussion with kids--about what makes special days like birthdays and Christmas really special. This story reminds me of the book Caddie Woodlawn, and how Caddie and her siblings longed and craved to eat turkey dinners, until they raised turkeys and ate them every other meal. Suddenly, the very mention of turkey raised a whole volley of complaints and groans.

Tony Ross never disappoints in being clever.

[Raven Grider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to my sister's class on her birthday! There were two birthdays that day, so this was perfect! The illustrations aren't too appealing, but the kids loved it. This could be read to teach the importance of not not being selfish.

[Auttumn C]

Be careful what you wish for! This is a great book that teaches that lesson, so if you have students or children who are asking for something over and over again, like a pizza party, read this book and they might rethink that idea!

[Becky H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Princess wanted two birthdays and then more birthdays and soon the kingdom was celebrating it every day. Birthdays started to not be so special so the King suggests having one un-birthday...cute read.

[Salsabrarian]

Little Princess wants to celebrate two birthdays like her mother the Queen. Celebrating birthdays is so much fun, she asks for more, until the kingdom is celebrating everyday and the now tiresome birthdays aren't so special anymore. What to do? Celebrate an unbirthday of course!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, at first I was like, "I always say it's my Birthday" but after that I won't ever say it again...geesh

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little princess wants two birthdays like her mother. Then she wants four and it adds up to a birthday for every day. Finally she will have one special day- her unbirthday.

[Tina B]

birthdays, princesses, the problem with too many birthdays

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for all the little ones who wish it could be their birthday every day.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Christmas Every Day" retold with a birthday theme. Okay, and probably necessary for all those spoiled brats overindulged little dears out there, but not my favorite Tony Ross.