*A New Statesman Book for 2025 *

'The most accurate account of becoming a parent I have ever read.' PHILIPPA PERRY

'So clever, so funny, so astute, so healing. Becky Barnicoat is a stone cold genius.' LUCY JONES

A glorious antidote to parenting books, this darkly humorous, candid and insightful graphic memoir brings the early years of parenthood to life - in all their chaos, wonder and delirium.

Intimate, relatable and very funny, Becky Barnicoat explores everything from the anatomy of the hospital bag to the frantic obsession with putting your baby down drowsy but awake, to the tyranny of gentle parenting. From pregnancy to the feral toddler years, Barnicoat extends a sticky hand to all new parents grappling with the impossible but joyous jigsaw puzzle of their lives.

Barnicoat gives us permission to cry when the baby cries - and also laugh, snort, lie on the floor naked, drool and generally revel in a deeply strange new world ruled by a tyrannical tiny leader, growing bigger and more loved by the day.