'This book can be read millions of times when you are worried.' - Books for Keeps

A board book edition of the compelling and bestselling picture book which can be used as a spring board into what worries children today and how to deal with anxiety.

Wherever Jenny goes, her worries follow her - in a big blue bag. They are there when she goes swimming, when she is watching TV, and even when she is in the lavatory. Jenny decides they will have to go. But who can help her?

The Huge Bag of Worries was written by Virginia Ironside, one of Britain's leading agony aunts, and has sold 140k copies to date.

A reassuring picture book encouraging children to open up about their fears and anxieties to help manage their feelings. The perfect book to soothe worries during stressful times. Wherever Jenny goes, her worries follow her - in a big blue bag. They are with her all the time - at school, at home, when she is watching TV and even in the bathroom! Jenny decides they have to go, but who will help her get rid of them? A funny and reassuring look at dealing with worries and anxiety, to be used as a spring board into important conversations with your child.

Another year, another January, and Marie Sharp has written a new diary, dishing the dirt on how the cool grannies live today. And her drug cravings aren't the half of it. There's the handsome stranger who arrives as her new lodger. Is he all that he seems? There's the new project - teaching art at a school, now that her grandchild-minding days are numbered. Not to mention the mad dog and the crazy new neighbour. And then there's the lump, a frightening symptom of... what? Marie is back, courting laughter and disaster in equal measure. In her own inimitable style, she's getting older... and loving every minute of it.

Marie may be 'getting on a bit' but it's certainly not getting her down. She's working part time so there are more hours each day to enjoy life. She has her friends. She has Pouncer, the cat, as well as a darling grandson. And she has Archie to share her bed. All this, plus the Daily Rant's screaming headlines to wake her up in the morning. Life's good. But nothing stays the same for long. A roller-coaster of a year beckons - a year that contains love and death, laughter and tears and the bizarre decision to take up temporary residence in a tree.

Read Virginia Ironside's posts on the Penguin Blog.
A screamingly funny and poignant story about embracing life beyond middle age
Marie Sharp is heading toward sixty and is just fine with it. She's already had plenty of excitement in her life: sex and drugs in the freewheeling sixties, career and children, marriage and divorce. Now she's ready to settle into a quiet, blissfully boring routine. No Italian classes or gym memberships or bicycle trips across Europe, thank you very much Marie just wants to put her feet up and "start doing old things."
She's even sworn off men But as it turns out, life still has some surprises in store, the biggest of which is a new grandson on the way. What's more, Archie, her old childhood crush, suddenly reenters her life, and her closest friend falls seriously ill. Armed with a biting sense of humor, Marie wrestles with a life that refuses to follow her plans--and may still offer more possibilities than she realizes.

Too young to get whisked away by a Stannah Stairlift, or to enjoy the luxury of a walk-in bath (but not so much that she doesn't enjoy comfortable shoes), Marie is all the same getting on in years - and she's thrilled about it. She's a bit preoccupied about whether to give up sex - Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! - but there are compensations, like falling in love with her baby grandson, and maybe falling in love with someone else too? Curmudgeonly, acute, touching and funny, this diary is what happens when grumply old women meet Bridget Jones.

Marie is turning 69 this year, but there are no signs of her slowing down - she has a new male lodger (very into conspiracy theories), an intractable iPhone to wrestle with, and a trip to India to plan! As usual the year brings plenty of challenges as well as opportunities. Marie is burgled, which sends the street into uproar. Ex-husand David is still around and getting rather too close for comfort. Marie's cat Pouncer is starting to look rather peaky (her conspiracy-theorist lodger is convinced someone is poisoning him), and probably worst of all, it seems her grandson Gene is getting too old to want to hang out with his granny any more. Maybe learning to graffiti and speak street slang will help win him back? Full of Virginia Ironside's inimitable wit and featuring plenty of popular characters from this series, this is a hilarious and touching look at getting older from one of Britain's best observers of relationships.

The author of this book, a journalist and writer on personal and family relationships, examines bereavement. The death of her own father made her question the "stages of grief" pinpointed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and used by counsellors at Cruse. Her researches since have indicated that many people find grief a more chaotic and violent process and this book looks at the shock, anger, guilt, powerlessness, fear, and the complex of emotions and reactions surrounding the informal rituals of death - the will and dealing with personal effects. Personal, well-informed and practical, the book is designed as a guide and support to the bereaved and their friends and family.