During the catastrophic tsunami of 2004 a family of hippos was swept out to sea from their home on Sabaki River in Eastern Kenya. The sole survivor of the disastor was a baby hippo who was rescued & given the name Owen. Motherless & alone Owen is befriended by Mzee a giant male tortoise at a local nature reserve. This moving & charming tale is the story of their friendship. ...

Why did you leave me? Why did you get messed up with all of those drugs? Why did you kill my brother & sister? Didnt you love us enough? Nikkia Roberson has been asking these questions for most of her life. But how else do you cope when your mentally ill mother has killed your little brother & sister by scalding them with boiling water? This is the harrowing true story of how one little girl lost her family in the worst possible way. But its also the ultimate tale of forgiveness. Follow Nikkia on her heartbreaking journey as she attempts to find answers & rekindle a relationship with her mother behind the gates of a secure psychiatric hospital. Deeply moving Mummy is a Killer" proves that love really is the strongest emotion of all." ...

Four-year-old Lisas world turned upside down when her step-father moved in. Most of the time he was just violent but then he started making her do things she knew were wrong. Soon he was visiting her at night. Lisa begged her mother for help but she just shrugged telling Lisa he would have his way. It was the greatest betrayal of all. At first Lisas step-father would just make her stroke & massage his feet hitting her if she stopped but he soon wanted more. Much more. By the time she was 12 he was regularly abusing her. One day when Lisa turned 16 she came home to discover that her mother had swapped bedrooms with her. Youre my girlfriend now her step-father told her. Lisa turned to her mother for help but was met with a shrug. She wouldnt hear a word against her husb&. Dont blame me she said. Her step-fathers abuse was horrific but what completely tore her apart was knowing her mother knew & encouraged it. Trapped & increasingly desperate Lisa tried to find a way out. But her isolation was complete. Several months later her mother told her shed arranged for Lisa & her step-father to move into a flat together down the road. It was too much for Lisa to bear. Please dont make me please she sobbed. But her mother just ignored her. Lisa was marched around to the flat with her possessions & her nightmare was complete. Alone with her step-father Lisas life became even more unbearable. Then one day finally she got the chance shed been looking for to escape. Lisa bravely struck out on her own petrified her mother would find her & hand her back into the waiting arms of her step-father. But Lisas mother had no idea how determined she was to break away... ...

Just how are babies made? Erm Well...they're delivered by dinosaurs squidged out of tubes & found under stones! In this story the kids put their embarrassed parents straight & dispel the myths surrounding baby-making growth & birth. Babette Cole careers through the facts of life with her no-nonsense text & funny illustrations. ...

When Reece arrives at Cathy's door aged 7 years old he has already passed through the hands of four different carers in four weeks. As the details of his short life emerge it becomes clear that to help him Cathy will face her biggest challenge yet. The latest title from the author of Sunday Times & New York Times bestseller Damaged. Reece is the last of six siblings to be fostered. Having been in care for four months his aggressive & disruptive behaviour has seen him passed from carer to carer. Although only 7 he has been excluded from school & bites people so often that his mother calls him ' Sharky'. Cathy wants to find the answers for Reece's distressing behaviour but he has been sworn to secrecy by his mother & will not tell them anything. As the social worker prepares for the final hearing he finds five different files on Reece's family & is incredulous that he had not been removed from them as a baby. When the darkest of family secrets is revealed to Cathy Reece's behaviour suddenly starts to make sense & together they can begin to rebuild his life. ...

Acting wasnt a long-held childhood dream for Larry Lamb instead his childhood memories are filled with recollections of his parents continuously fighting. His mother & father were totally mismatched the only thing they shared in common was their children & life in the Lamb household veered from laughter & happy moments to hysterical outbursts & terrifying episodes. Larry the eldest of three children was only too often caught in the middle & found himself at the centre of his fathers raging anger tormented by a man who struggled with the enormity of fatherhood. When his parents marriage finally broke down Larrys mother moved out along with her baby daughter & as they grew up Larry & his brother Wesley lived with their father seeing their mother & sister only in rushed meetings at bus stops & in public parks. For years Larry didnt know where his mum lived & he didnt dare talk of her at home his mothers presence left a gaping hole. As soon as Larry was old enough he left home. Putting as much distance as he could between himself & his volatile childhood he set off on a journey that would take him to work as an encyclopaedia salesman in Germany in the oil business in Libya & Nova Scotia until he found himself starring on Broadway. In time it would take him to Hollywood too & bring him leading roles on the Square in Eastenders & in Billericay in the much-loved comedy Gavin & Stacey. Along the way Larry wasnt just trying to make his own way in the world he was seeking the close female companionship hed missed out on with his mother too. After a series of relationships he found himself back in England & father to George. Facing fatherhood was a pivotal moment so easily he could have fallen into the ways of his own father but whilst his marriage to Georges mother didnt last he couldnt let the same mistakes be repeated again & he vowed to have the relationship with his son that hed never been able to have with his father. Mummys Boy is by turns heartrending as Larry recalls the relationship broken beyond repair with his father searingly honest as he describes the effect his childhood had in later life & hugely entertaining as he tells captivating tales of making it as an actor breaking out from his little world in Essex & finding himself in a new life on stage & screen. ...

The fifth book from bestselling author & specialist foster carer Casey Watson. A recent census shows that there are at least 175 000 child carers in the UK 13 000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week. Many remain invisible to a system that would otherwise help them. Abigail is one of those children. This is her story. Ten-year-old Abigail has never known her father. Her mother Sarah has multiple sclerosis & Abigail has been her carer since she was a toddler
- shopping cooking cleaning & attending to her personal needs. When Sarah is rushed to hospital suddenly this comes to the attention of the social services & Abigail has nowhere to go. Though she doesn't fit the usual profile of a child that specialist foster carers Casey & Mike Watson would take on they are happy to step in & look after Abigail. It's an emergency after all
- & all that's needed is a loving temporary home while social services look into how to support the family so that they can be reunited. But it soon becomes clear that this isn't going to happen. Sarah's MS is now at a very advanced stage & the doctors are certain that there will no longer be periods of remission. Abigail's emotional state starts to spiral out of control as she struggles to let go of the burden of responsibilities she has carried for so long. Sarah & Abigail insist that they do not need help but with no other family to contact social services are left with no choice but to find long-term care for Abigail against their wishes. But Casey never gives up on a child in need & she knows there must be another solution...

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Attention all lardies! Are you sick to death of mum-upmanship at the school gates? Have you had your fill of Mother Superiors who lose their baby weight in six weeks while you're still carrying yours years later? Do you crave the company of like-minded mums who will admit motherhood smells not of roses but of dirty nappies? Well look no further than Mums Like Us" a weekly group where knackered mums can let rip about kids husbands & work. So join our rejection of perfection & fight for 'good enough' parenting. & drink. & lots of cake. Stella Smith " Mums Like Us" Chairwoman." ...

When Hairy Bikers Si & Dave toured the country in search of ordinary Mums & their families' favourite recipes they had no idea they would unearth such a wealth of talent tradition & nostalgia. So began their search for the dishes we love best. This beautiful cookbook brings together over 100 of the nation's favourite recipes from the second series of BBC2's MUMS KNOW BEST. It

Includes:: Si & Dave's personal family recipes as well as their favourite recipes that they discover through the mums they meet & the recipe fairs they hold. Episodes include Comforting Food High Tea School Dinners & Al Fresco. An irresistible collection of recipes that will inspire you to keep cooking with love for the people that matter to you most.

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