I Really Want to Help: A chaotically festive Christmas caper!

By Author / Illustrator

Simon Philip, Lucia Gaggiotti

Genre

Seasonal

Age range(s)

Publisher

Templar Books

ISBN

9781800782617

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

11-09-2025

Synopsis

From Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlisted duo, Simon Philip and Lucia Gaggiotti, comes a Christmas caper with the beloved heroine of the I Really Want series.

It's Christmas time again! Hooray!
But when I hear my parents say,
"There's just SO much to do!" each day,
I shout, "Don't fret, I'll help!"

They both protest, but I insist
I'm well prepared and have a list
of things to sort so nothing's missed.
I don't need ANY help!

Christmas may be the best time of year, but there's SO MUCH to do. This is what one little girl discovers when she tries to help her parents by doing EVERYTHING herself - with chaotic consequences! Will she get everything done before the big day? And what will she do if a special visitor really needs her help?

This bouncy, rhyming tale makes the perfect story for the build-up to Christmas with themes of self-confidence, teamwork and asking for help. Read more adventures in the series: I Really Want the Cake, I Really Want to Win, I Really Want to Shout and I Really Want to Share.

I REALLY WANT THE CAKE by Simon Philip and Lucia Gaggiotti was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.

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Reviews

Lucy

A festive story covering all of Christmas's joys! I Really Want to Help is all about a little girl who is desperate to help her family to prepare for Christmas. She rushes around doing lots of jobs among the usual chaos of preparing for Christmas in many family homes. It's a nice way of highlighting just how much there is to do for Christmas and may give some children a bit more understanding of why their adults may seem a little stressed or overwhelmed at times.

Each page is filled with playful, colourful illustrations, which bring the tasks to life and the little girl has a very appealing, positive attitude towards it all. As a book, it really highlights lots of the joys of christmas and shows lots of happy family moments shared between people who love each other. This is a nice discussion point for slightly older children; they may be able to reflect on the festive activities that bring them the most joy and the traditions they like the best.

The book has a rhyming text which helps it to flow nicely and, as always, children will enjoy predicting which words may appear based on their knowledge of rhyming. Because of this, it would be a nice book to add to class storytime especially in KS1 in the run up to Christmas.

At the end of the book, there is a template for children to enjoy writing their own letters to Santa. This would be a nice activity to do with your children at home or as a way of inspiring some writing in the younger children at school. It could be used as a whole class activity or as a prompt within provision time. My favourite spread is the picture of the whole family gathered around the Christmas tree, singing with the guitar. It really emphasises what Christmas should be all about and the joy it can bring with special people.

Picture book / Reviewed by Lucy Hopkins, teacher