I Want My Light On!

My Little Princess

by Tony Ross

Boo!

"I'm not so much afraid of the dark!" said the Little Princess.

"I'm sort of more afraid of GHOSTS!"

Everyone says there are no such things as ghosts. Maybe so, but then how do you explain what's under the Little Princess's bed?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Ghosts, Princesses, Fiction, Storytime, Halloween

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book about a princess who just wants to have her light on.. because of ghosts. Each member of the staff have something to say and even give tips. I had so much fun reading and seeing what each member would tell her and how the girl would react, and I was totally on the side of the girl. Lights on please! When she really wants to sleep then the fun starts even more and I laughed so hard. The ending was fab!

[Fahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️😌❤️

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: I Want My Light On! By Tony Ross

Summary: Princess wants light because she fears ghosts.

Pros:

This book addresses the idea of fears at bedtime in a gentle and silly way.
The illustrations are clean, bright and expressive.

Cons:

Not as well written as other books in The Little Princess Series.
The resolution at the end of the book is problematic. The princess, who is afraid of ghosts, sees a ghost who is afraid of little girls. The ghost runs to its mother who gently reassures the ghost by saying, “There are no such things as little girls.” This is amusing but children know little girls exist so some children may take the opposite to be true also, that ghosts exist. This book should be read carefully, readers should exaggerate the irony of the ghost being afraid of little girls in order to emphasize the silliness of the entire situation; if not taken too literally this ending shouldn’t raise major problems.

Age: 4-6
Usage: Works well for one-on-one, could also be used for story time if you think you can pull off the right tone.

[Mairéad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story about Little Princess being afraid of ghosts offers a fun opportunity to explore the idea of perspective with young children. There are also opportunities to discuss fear and how we overcome it, jobs in the community and different types of homes when reading this aloud with group of children. A nice addition to the Little Princess collection I can see this being very popular in my classroom library.

[Anners · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best ghost stories I've read in a long time. The Little Princess, star of this book, adores story time before bed but is terrified of turning out the light afterwards because, as anyone who knows anything will tell you, darkness is an open invitation for ghosts! Never fear, though; this story is not too scary for young readers and takes an amusing twist at the end when our Little Princess finally confronts a real ghost.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction at its finest, from a man who knows and loves and understands and CAN DRAW kids in full emotional transformation.

"I'm not so much afraid of the dark!" said the Little Princess.

"I'm sort of more afraid of GHOSTS!"

Everyone says there are no such things as ghosts. Maybe so, but then how do you explain what's under the Little Princess's bed?

MY FAVORITE PAGE IN THIS BOOK

It shows the Little Princess, red-faced, and upside down. Lying on her stomach on her bed, with her hesd beneath the mattress.

Also illustrated is her Dad, with a much larger butt and a much redder face, doing pretty much the same thing.

In addition, this illustration shows two mice beneath the bed, only they're visible to the reader but not the two humans.

As for the words on this page, here they are, in all their ironic wittiness:

"Don't be silly, there are NO such things as ghosts," said Dad.

"And there's nothing under the bed."

The surprise ending is just a honey. Even before that, this entire creation counts (to me) as a VERY FIVE STAR book.

[Sahuna Imran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series, the books as well as the cartoon and I love Little princess's accent in the cartoon. The illustrations are beautiful, just because she is a princess she doesn't needs to be dolled up the whole time. She is as messy as a child can be.
It's a good book to show its okay to be scared sometimes because even princesses are scared sometimes. Recommended to all...

[Amy Aldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about a girl whose scared of the dark and the monsters that might be hiding in it! I liked the twist at the end when it turns out the ghosts are more scared of her than she is of them. An enjoyable read for a KS1 class.

[Nadina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the other book I remember reading in this series is "I want my potty" and I really enjoyed that. I still liked the artwork in this one, but the story was just somehow not as enjoyable. It was mediocre over all.

[Adam Nickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarlett aged 6 *****

Poppy aged 4 ****

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a perfect Halloween like story where the little princess doesn't want to turn the light off at night. Loved the twist ending. ending is preschool and up

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great for storytime.

[Donna Mork · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little girl is afraid of ghosts.....and the ghost is afraid of little girls. Cute.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite of the series

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Daan Nys · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meer iets om voor te lezen aan kleuters

[Kiyoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

(youtube)

[Fatemesadat shahravesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

اگه بچه از تاریکی نمیترسه به هیچ وجه نخونید. تصاویر تا حدی ترسناکه

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rare occasion where I liked the story but not the illustrations. A princess wants her light on at bedtime because she is afraid of ghosts. Well the servants try to convince her there are no ghosts.

[shemah · Rating 2 out of 5]

#2025

[اليازية خليفة · Rating 5 out of 5]

شدني غلاف هذه القصة كثيرا، فاشتريتها من بين مجموعة من قصص "الأميرة الصغيرة" -بالمناسبة لم أكن أعرف أنها شخصية كرتونية إلى أن قال لي أحد أبناء أختي "هذه تظهر على شاشة ال
MBC٣"
فترك انطباعاً سيئاً في عقلي، سرعان ما تبدد وأنا أقرأ القصة، أحداث القصة واضحة من البداية وتفاعل الشخصيات مع "أزمة الأميرة الصغيرة" مع الظلام كان جيدا، الأهم بالنسبة لي، أن النهاية عكست القصة رأساً على عقب، كأني بها تناقش فكرة التصورات الذهنية المسبقة عن الآخر وكيف أن هذا الآخر قد يكون في ذهنه هو أيضا صورة سلبية عنا.

أعجبتني الرسومات البسيطة كذلك.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm not so much afraid of the DARK!" said the Little Princess. "I'm sort of more afraid of ghosts."Everyone insists there are NO such things as ghosts. But if that's the case, just what is lurking under the Little Princess' bed?

This book will work better with children who have some sence of reality.


Subjects

Little Princess (Fictitious character) -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile fiction.

Fear of the dark -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile fiction.

Ghosts

[Tasneem Zafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little princess wants the light on when it's bedtime cause she's sort of afraid of ghosts even though everyone says there's NO thing such as ghosts.
The little ghost wants the light on anyways when it's bedtime cause he's sort of afraid of little girls even though his mama says there is NO such thing as little girls.
Nicely cute illustrations.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Little Princess isn't afraid of the dark, she's afraid of ghosts! But, what if ghosts turn out to be afraid of little girls? Very good for those little ones afraid of things that go bump in the night.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reverse scare at the end has been done elsewhere, but it's still fun, and Tony Ross's books always have great appeal. Little princesses AND princes will identify with this one, though if you're trying to assure your child that there are no ghosts, this probably isn't the right book....

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2 3/4 year old thought this was read & reread worthy. It got so she could 'read' the lines on her own. Bold and colorful illustrations and a cute story. I had to go buy it when the library demanded their copy back. I'll be checking out Tony Ross's others soon.

[Stefani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of overcoming fears and how things might be more afraid of you than you are of them. However, not well-written, the story is clunky at times. Still, good to have on-hand for those afraid of the dark.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is sort of strange. It's like two books, a book about being afraid of the dark and people trying to placate her about it, and a ghost story. Not bad, just not as good as the other Little Princess books.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky little twist on the tale of the girl afraid of ghosts/ghost afraid of children. Illustrations highlight the text in a most enjoyable way! Preschoolers (higher end) will enjoy the humor.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a layout note - the advertising for the other little princess books right next to the ending of this one is very disconcerting...very strange book design choice.