Maureen Lee – författare

Developing Professional Practice in the Early Years encourages the reader to critically consider key aspects of early childhood education and care. The book is a valuable and accessible tool for those on professional pathways to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or those engaged in Early Childhood Studies programmes or similar degree programmes courses relating to early years practice. This book will also be of interest to those engaged in continuous professional development (CPD) programmes.  The book recognises the important contribution that early years education and care can make to children’s future outcomes. It can be read in-depth or dipped into when need arises. Each chapter will help the reader to engage with challenging concepts and ideas which underpin early childhood policy and practice. Strong practical elements to the book aim to support the application of learning to high quality practice with young children.The generic term ‘early childhood professional’ is used throughout the book to encompass the diversity of roles within early childhood practice. The book aims to  support the reader to critically consider the complexity of ‘being professional’ in contemporary early childhood practice by providing a strong theoretical and practice-based framework of the role and context of the early childhood professional.Key features of the book include:• Reflective tasks to support critical thinking about key aspects of professional practice• Case studies to enable the reader to learn from stories and situations about real professionals and their practice• Positive Practice Impact (PPI) boxes to provide specific examples of good professional practice in early childhood.Each chapter of this essential text concludes by signposting further reading – book chapters, journal articles, websites – to build greater depth of knowledge and extend the reader’s understanding of early childhood theory and practice. 

Developing Professional Practice in the Early Years encourages the reader to critically consider key aspects of early childhood education and care. The book is a valuable and accessible tool for those on professional pathways to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or those engaged in Early Childhood Studies programmes or similar degree programmes courses relating to early years practice. This book will also be of interest to those engaged in continuous professional development (CPD) programmes.  The book recognises the important contribution that early years education and care can make to children’s future outcomes. It can be read in-depth or dipped into when need arises. Each chapter will help the reader to engage with challenging concepts and ideas which underpin early childhood policy and practice. Strong practical elements to the book aim to support the application of learning to high quality practice with young children.The generic term ‘early childhood professional’ is used throughout the book to encompass the diversity of roles within early childhood practice. The book aims to  support the reader to critically consider the complexity of ‘being professional’ in contemporary early childhood practice by providing a strong theoretical and practice-based framework of the role and context of the early childhood professional.Key features of the book include:• Reflective tasks to support critical thinking about key aspects of professional practice• Case studies to enable the reader to learn from stories and situations about real professionals and their practice• Positive Practice Impact (PPI) boxes to provide specific examples of good professional practice in early childhood.Each chapter of this essential text concludes by signposting further reading – book chapters, journal articles, websites – to build greater depth of knowledge and extend the reader’s understanding of early childhood theory and practice. 

A warm-hearted story of one idyllic summer and four very different women - from the bestselling author of MOTHER OF PEARL.

Brodie Logan''s seemingly idyllic life with her once-loving husband is suddenly turned upside down - so she moves to a big shared house in Liverpool, and there meets a remarkable group of people.

Twenty-five-year-old Diana seems so innocent and childlike, yet she was responsible for raising her three younger brothers. But suddenly there is no place for her in the only home she has ever known. Vanessa, once a successful career woman, still can''t get over the shock of an unexpected rejection. And Rachel, barely fifteen, with her baby daughter, Poppy, is determined to keep the child some people seem set on taking away from her.

As they while away the brilliant summer under the trees in the lovely garden of the big house, friendships form that will last a lifetime - but there are troubles on the horizon; after all, nothing lasts forever...

From Sunday Times bestselling author Maureen Lee - written specially for the World Book Day Quick Reads promotion.Until that fateful day in Brighton, Maggie had thought she would never be happy again...Maggie''s once-happy marriage has turned sour, leaving her tied to a husband who no longer seems to love her. So she continues to work, keeps in touch with her friends and tries not to think about the lack of love in her life.But all that changes when Maggie meets someone who transforms how she feels about herself and turns her entire world upside down.

A powerful First World War story of a woman''s quest for justice, from the bestselling author of NOTHING LASTS FOREVER and THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL.Liverpool 1915. Martha Rossi lives in a tenement with her husband and their five children. Despite working all the hours she can, the family don''t have much to get by on. When Martha''s fourteen-year-old son, Joe, proudly enlists to fight for his country just to earn his mother an extra shilling, Martha is horrified. She realises the government is turning a blind eye to the scores of young boys who are joining the army. Despite her pleas and protests, Joe is dispatched to France within weeks.Unbeknown to them all, Joe''s act of selfless heroism will have huge implications for Martha and all the family. As the dreaded telegrams begin to arrive from the front in France, mothers'' hearts are broken across the country. Spurred on by grief of her own, Martha Rossi begins a quest that will take her right to the doors of No. 10 Downing Street. Martha''s journey there will be a tough one, but with courage and the support of her friends and family, it will be the most important undertaking of her life.

A tragedy tears a family apart - a superb novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL.Pretty Amy Curran was just eighteen years old when she met Barney Patterson, the love of her life, on Southport Pier in 1939. Their romantic, passionate marriage was made in heaven - but with the outbreak of war, Barney volunteered to fight, and the couple were separated for five long years. When he returned to Liverpool after VE Day, he wasn''t the same person - and neither was Amy.How could things have become so twisted that one day Amy would kill the husband she once so adored? And what happened to their little girl, Pearl, just five years old at the time?In 1971 Amy is released from prison - although her freedom will change the lives of others, not least that of her daughter. But Pearl has her own demons to exorcise in her quest for happiness. And the greatest question she must ask herself is this: can she ever love her mother after what she did?

A gripping Second World War novel, from the bestselling author of NOTHING LASTS FOREVER and THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL.Liverpool, 1937. Jessica is married to Bertie, a mean, patronising man who she has stayed with purely for the sake of her two young children. To make up for the love and passion that is missing from her life, she spends the occasional afternoon at the local cinema, lost in romantic films. But when an unexpected glass of champagne is offered to her in a Liverpool hotel, the consequences turn out to be shattering.When Bertie discovers his wife''s deceit, he is ruthless in his revenge. He sells their house and disappears with her beloved children, leaving Jessica devastated and alone. Then she is asked to visit Paris and help an old friend and her small daughters return to Liverpool before the onset of the war. But Jessica finds herself stranded in Paris under German occupation. With new friends and a small family to care for, she must find the courage that she never knew she possessed...

The autobiography of true national treasure LESLIE PHILLIPS, an actor who has featured in more British Number One box office smashes than anyone else and was the voice of The Sorting Hat in Harry Potter''A lively book full of amusing anecdotes and insights into the life of a zestfully ambitious actor'' SPECTATORLeslie Phillips''s story begins with a poverty-stricken childhood in north London, made all the worse when his father died when Leslie was just ten years old. Soon after, he began his acting career, and since then he has worked with all the greats, from Laurence Olivier to Steven Spielberg.Best known for his comic roles in the Carry On and Doctor series, he took the decision in later life to take on more serious roles in films such as Empire of the Sun, Out of Africa and Scandal, as well as performing in plays such as The Cherry Orchard.Packed with hilarious anecdotes, in this long-awaited autobiography he recalls some of the great characters he has worked with, and also highlights how different he is in real life from his onscreen persona as a bounder. It is a fascinating story, brilliantly told.

Two sisters; one heartbreaking mistake; a lifetime apartIt is a cold February night in 1925 when two teenage sisters - Mollie and Annemarie - escape from their home in a tiny Irish village. Their beloved mother has died and the girls have suffered shocking abuse at the hands of their father. They head to Liverpool where they will board a ship to New York. But the smallest, cruellest twist of fate conspires to separate the girls just as the boat is about to sail, leaving Mollie stranded in Liverpool and Annemarie at the mercy of strangers in America. The subsequent paths of their lives could not be more different. Annemarie discovers her future and her fortune, while Mollie, devastated by guilt and grief at the loss of her sister, eventually carves out a new life in Liverpool. Then the Second World War looms - with surprising consequences for the two sisters...

A wonderfully involving family story that begins in Liverpool at the beginning of the Second World War and spans forty turbulent years.Liverpool, 1939. The Second World War is about to start when pretty Laura Oliver meets Queenie Todd. Laura is twenty-one and happily married. At fourteen, Queenie lacks Laura''s confidence and has been deserted by her good-time mother. The two become friends, but when the air raids begin Queenie is trusted to look after two young children, and the three of them are evacuated to a small town on the coast of Wales. At first, it is a haven of peace and quiet. The girls have a wonderful time - and then something happens, so terrifying that it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

A moving contemporary novel set in Liverpool about the new residents of Victoria SquareVictoria Macara lives in the old house on the corner. When the land is sold, she finds herself surrounded by new properties called Victoria Square.The newcomers include mismatched lovers, Kathleen and Steve; Rachel, who is attempting to forget a terrible tragedy; Sarah who is running away from an abusive husband, while Anna and Ernie are just after a quiet life. For Marie, Victoria Square is a refuge from the men who murdered her husband; for Judy, it means a fresh start after forty years of marriage to a man she''d thought she''d love for ever. But it is to Gareth - trapped in a hopeless marriage - that Victoria is particularly drawn . . .

Two families - and their secrets . . . A superb Liverpool saga from bestselling author Maureen LeeIn Liverpool, on a stormy September night in 1920, two women from very different backgrounds give birth to daughters in the same house. Enemies at first, they later become friends when separate troubles unite them. But friendship between their daughters, Cara and Sybil, is a different matter.Nineteen years later, at the beginning of the Second World War, Cara and Sybil find themselves thrown together when they enlist and are both stationed in Malta. It is a time of live-changing repercussions for them both while, back home in Liverpool, the bombs rain down on a defiant city.

Another wonderful Liverpool saga from bestselling author, Maureen Lee.At the age of nineteen, Kitty McCarthy has decided she is going to live a life less ordinary - although she doesn''t know quite how to go about it. What she does know is that she doesn''t want to get married and raise children in Liverpool like her elder sisters: Claire, who is a mother-hen; easy-going Norah and elegant Aileen. But Kitty''s resolve is tested by the unexpected direction her life takes. The combination of an impetuous youthful decision and a chance meeting twenty years later are to have momentous repercussions that will stay with her for ever, and it is her sisters who are the constant thread when other relationships come and go. They know her best, they say, and in the end they know what''s best for her - although Kitty would almost certainly disagree...