Mummy Said the F-Word (39 page)

‘What’s he written?’ I ask, lurching over.

And there it is, in plastic letters of red, pink and green.

‘Travis,’ I say in my most serious voice, ‘this is a swear word. You do know that, don’t you? Who’s been saying it?’

The grin spreads all over his face. ‘You,’ he says.

Everyone told Stella Moon how lucky she was to have a famous dad. She just wished he was more like everyone else’s. Then when her mum died, and he hid away in his study, she didn’t feel lucky at all.

Now in her thirties Stella has ensured her calm, orderly existence couldn’t be further from her chaotic upbringing. Then two noisy little girls move in next door, shattering her peace and turning her life upside down.

At first, Stella feels besieged. The girls hound and stalk her, firing personal questions about her mum, her dad and her excuse for her love-life. But ultimately it’s their friendship that helps her to confront the truth about her own childhood and start living life to the full.

A beautifully written, moving and uplifting story about growing up, family secrets and allowing new people into your life.

What Your Mother Never Told You About Bringing Up Kids

‘Raising kids is rather like looking after small, very drunk people’

If you have an embarrassing child who shouts, ‘Why is that man so fat?’ in the street, or bursts into friends’ houses announcing ‘It stinks in here’, then this book is for you.

Self-confessed imperfect mum Fiona Gibson blends her own hilarious tales of raising three children with nuggets of advice from fellow parents who admit that they too get things wrong occasionally.

What to do when your child throws a plank-rigid wobbler in M&S? How to handle a foul-mouthed monster who’s obsessed with the toilet parts of horses? Can parents rekindle their sex life, or is it simpler all round to not bother? Is it okay to uncork the wine before 7 pm?

Funny and refreshingly honest,
The Fish Finger Years
offers a welcome reminder that yours is not the only family for whom a simple trip to IKEA results in cushion fights, tears, and a messy encounter with the ketchup dispenser in the hot dog zone.