Getting kids washed, getting kids dressed, getting kids fed, getting kids to sleep. And repeat

The title - ‘The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read’ - is catchy if nothing else, but Philippa Perry’s parenting book delivers on everything it promises, writes mum of two Suzanne Harrington.

The comedian Michael McIntyre says that parenting is basically a Sisyphean cycle of four things: getting kids washed, getting kids dressed, getting kids fed, getting kids to sleep. And repeat. Hence the mountain of parenting books about how to effectively do these basics without losing your mind, full of tips, tricks and life hacks on potty training, sleep training, weaning, tantrums, faddy eating, safeguarding, boundaries, how to get the little beasts to put their coats on. Parental tactics can often include distraction, bribery, manipulation, dismissal.