Virginia Ironside – författare

The death of a loved one is the most traumatic experience any of us face. No two people cope with it the same way: some cry while others remain dry-eyed; some discover growth through pain, others find arid wastes; some feel angry, others feel numb. Virginia Ironside deals with this complicated and sensitive issue with great frankness and insight, drawing on other's people's accounts as well as her own experiences.

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.

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.

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.

Marie may be 'getting on a bit' but it's certainly not getting her down. Her family around her and a man who loves her means that life is good - but nothing stays the same for long. Marie's golden years are filled with as much drama - love, laughter and tears - as ever. Which just goes to show that getting on a bit does not mean giving up - or even growing up.

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.