Happy Families: The heart-warming and hilarious winner of Richard & Judy's Search for a Bestseller 2020

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I love books that feature a large family with lots of different characters and personalities and this one had the added interest that it was based around a Chinese family! Whilst I found this book nostalgic, the story was bland and I only finished it because I don’t like to leave a book unfinished. I think writing has been a sort of quiet thing I've kept on the side - I have always written since I was a child, and I was told that I was quite good at it.

One of the times I sent it out, I was told the story is quite boring, so I had to work out which were the boring bits and I chose to take out that subplot. All of the reviews i read beforehand complained that it was slow and boring and not what they were expecting. Up until recently, people used to ask for half and half rice and chips and I was always adamant that we don't do that sort of thing: you've got to be all or nothing, you've got to pick one, that was my feeling. A classic Happy Families story written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Andre Amstutz Mrs Lather is getting quite worked up in her laundry.This was much ado about nothing - I was totally confused by all the names in the family and didn't really get the plot or characterisations. Janet Ahlberg won two Kate Greenaway Medals for illustrating their books and the 1978 winner Each Peach Pear Plum was named one of the top ten winning works for the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005). Viv and Karlie had the amazing opportunity to chat about her upbringing and the book in our podcast, But Where Are You From? The family spans 3 generations and I loved the Grandfather, Ah Goong particularly, as well as Amy the main character. But like I said before, everywhere you go, you see takeaways everywhere, sometimes at the end of quite a residential street.

I also thought the plot was a little slow but the characters made up for that being easy to connect and sympathize with. Richard and Judy are normally a safe pair of hands with book recommendations, but they have dropped the ball on this one. The author brings the characters in the family and the town to life with her well-observed depictions and humour. On the other hand, I still have answers as certain characters stories weren't fully completed which is rather irritating.But then Ah Goong collapses in the street and Amy realises time is running out if she wants to play happy families again . There's also a heart-wrenchingly sad depiction of Amy's mother Joan and her childhood to buffer the more humorous aspects of the story.

Both were revealed pretty swiftly near the conclusion and felt a little underwhelming, I guess I was expecting something a little more impactful. As the story reveals itself we are given snippets of life for Ah Goong when he first arrived in the UK. Amber Hatch, author of Mindfulness for Parents The must-have, family handbook that deserves to be well thumbed and underlined.Unfortunately, whilst I'd love to say that writing this book came natural to me and that I didn’t need help, working here was a perfectly good way to earn that money to acquire the skills and have the time to focus. I don't know if your family was ever told to do those things like “don't wash your hair on New Year's Eve” and there's a bit in the book where they spend loads of time trying to find the right temperature for the water to drink. But then they hear news that all small schools must close, so Mr Tick starts teaching some rather unusual lessons - in how to trick stern school inspectors. Each has a story to tell (with a gentle rippling of Cantonese and Welsh) and a mystery to reveal, as Amy gradually and lovingly unravels the secrets that surround her.

Registered office address: Unit 34 Vulcan House Business Centre, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EF. When children are facing a mental health challenge, Dr Beth offers what all struggling parents need: an evidence-based road map to helping your child find themselves again. I must be losing my brain cells, found the second half hard to keep up with the people and their connections to each other. They’ve fallen out of favour lately - I think it's because belly pork is quite a fatty cut of pork and people are very health conscious. It is a very warm and fulfilling story about the everyday dramas and secret pasts of an immigrant family living in Wales, who also happen to own a Chinese takeaway.

Personally I also found the direction of the storyline became a little unpalatable as Ah Goong’s secret was revealed and I was completely bemused by Julie Ma’s need to introduce Walter, a dementia suffering care home resident, into the later stages of a novel that is essentially a family drama. Happy Families is a gentle family drama about three generations of a slightly dysfunctional Chinese family living in the small town of Cawsmenyn in Wales and the family run takeaway they own. As both a parent and professional, Beth brings her expertise and knowledge within each reach of every parent, with simple to apply suggestions, tools and techniques to use in everyday family situations.