Sometimes I Just Won’t
Timothy Knapman and Joe Berger
Macmillan Children’s Books

Determined is a word that springs immediately to mind when referring to young children and their decision making, and the small boy in this story surely is being stubborn about quite a lot of things. He won’t share his balance bike; he won’t eat his peas; bedtime is a definite no no 

and bath time brings big problems be it getting in or getting out. Many parents will recognise these scenarios; they certainly can be exhausting for all concerned.

However the opportunity to spend calming down time with an empathetic grandparent like the grandmother herein, especially when she’s so good at cuddles and a chat, work wonders, allowing our protagonist to take another look at some of the things he simply won’t do. 

You never know, they might just turn out to be things he loves to do after all.

As we see, this lad has certainly taken what gran says to heart about him being allowed to choose if something isn’t feeling right; about one or two things though, he remains obdurate…

This terrific follow up to Sometimes I am Furious is written in Timothy Knapman’s jaunty rhyming first person narrative and Joe Berger’s splendidly expressive illustrations capture the emotions with humour that works for both children and adults.