"Up and Down Mum" by Summer Macon (Child's Play)

Sometimes it's not easy for kids to understand why their parents aren't their normal chirpy selves and in "Up and Down Mum" by Summer Macon, the story sensitively deals with what it's like to live with folk whose moods aren't always predictable.

A little girl knows that living with Mum is a bit like a roller coaster ride. At times, Mum is happy and fun, full of energy and get-up-and-go. 

But sometimes Mum isn't like that at all. She's tired, snappy, sometimes even angry. 

But she's always Mum, and always loves her little girl despite her moods. 

The book sensitively deals with a tricky subject to convey in a picture book. There are over four million sufferers of Bipolar Disorder and other mood-based disorders in the UK, and the numbers grow year on year with the decline in our mental heath services, and the increased pressure on parents  - and indeed their kids. 

This is a truly fantastic book from Child's Play, digging into a subject that so few of us know much about, but handling it in a thorough, understanding and kid-friendly way. 

Sum this book up in a sentence: Sensitively created in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust, this book aims to help children understand the situation and hopefully also understand why sometimes mum or dad can behave the way they do. 

"Up and Down Mum" by Summer Macon is out now, published by Child's Play (kindly supplied for review).