100 Ideas for Dads who love their kids (but find them exhausting) by Willem Van Eekelen (Featherstone / Bloomsbury)

I have chuckled, giggled and snorted my way through this book as I can wholly identify with Willem Van Eekelen. Willem decided to write a book about fatherhood that balances being an attentive and fun dad with activities that are mini works of genius. Some work wonderfully, some may need a little effort (and 'little effort' is what we're aiming for here).

To give you a flavour of the book, imagine a typical scene. You arrive home from work, you are (to put it bluntly) so knackered that you're struggling to keep your eyes open. Your little darlings, however, want to play, want you to draw, want you to make up some stories, want you to run around with them on your back and a zillion other things when what you really want to do is curl up on the sofa and basically die.

Willem to the rescue with games to suit a range of ages, for any setting you may find yourself in ("Hey, what's that? You're stranded in a tiny cottage in the middle of Wales in a torrential rainstorm and have bored children to entertain?") that achieve the nigh-on impossible: allow you to get some relaxation while stimulating busy little minds.

We tried a couple of the games (the "Hunt the shoe" thing didn't work out very well, because Charlotte did NOT want anything to do with my feet after a hard day at the office - understandably so) and we're definitely aiming to try some of the outdoor ones next time we go "Trusting" (Spending our weekends at National Trust places).

A nifty little pocket-sized book dosed heavily with humour, and the perfect father's day present for slacker dads :)

Charlotte's best bit: Lots of fun and inventive games to try out, both indoors and out

Daddy's Favourite bit: An awesome work of genius for 'tired' dads who don't want to be boring dads!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Willem Van Eekelen)