Darcy Burdock: Angrosaurus Rex

The fifth bright, hilarious and totally original Darcy Burdock story from Laura Dockrill.

Laura Dockrill is an award winning author and illustrator. What Have I Done? is Laura's first book for adults. She has written thirteen books for children and young adults. She has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of The Year Prize, long listed for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2018. She has earned plaudits like ‘Top 10 literary Talent’ from The Times. 
 
Laura has appeared on a host of TV programmes; CBeebies, Blue Peter, Newsnight and BBC Breakfast to name a few. Her radio prowess spans across the entire BBC network, having performed works on Radio 1 through 6 including Woman’s Hour and Open Book. She has written for the BFI, BBC Radio, Channel 4, The British Council, The Young Vic and the National Theatre. 
 
Laura is on the advisory panel at The Ministry Of Stories, and has judged many literary prizes including the John Betjeman Poetry Prize, BBC National Short Story Prize and the BAFTA Children’s Prize.

Ten-year-old Darcy Burdock is one of life's noticers. She sees the extraordinary in the everyday, and the wonder in the world around her. 
 
In Darcy's fifth story, it's the summer holidays and Darcy is not impressed that her family haven't gone to Hawaii like she wanted. Her best friend Will has abandoned her. Worst of all, Darcy has to pack up all her things ready for moving house. 
 
But Darcy is not going to throw a temper tantrum, as much as she wants to, because she's set herself the hardest challenge of her whole entire life: for the next six weeks, Darcy is not going to be dramatic. AT ALL!

Darcy Burdock: Oh, Obviously

The fourth colourful, funny and totally original Darcy Burdock story.

Ten-year-old Darcy Burdock is one of life's noticers. She sees the extraordinary in the everyday, and the wonder in the world around her. 
 
This is Darcy's fourth story, and the Burdock family are facing a series of disasters. Mum and Dad are having serious money worries. Darcy's granny (the one she doesn't like as much as her main most important grandma) has come to stay, and is snapping at everyone. Pork the cat's real owner has turned up, and wants to take him away. And to top it all off, Darcy is dreading her school sleepover - especially as she's the owner of the world's most ugly, stupid, babyish pyjamas. 
 
Can the power of Darcy's colourful, wild, glittering imagination turn all her troubles around?

Darcy Burdock: Sorry About Me

The third book starring Darcy Burdock - the new, all-conquering character for tweens.

Britain finally has an answer to Jeff Kinney and his Wimpy Kid

I'd like to prescribe a healthy spoonful of Laura Dockrill

The third book in the Darcy Burdock series from the children’s author named one of the top ten literary talent by The Times, Sorry About Me features the 10-year-old encountering much drama when mice invade her house and her best friend is pulled out of school. Prose is broken up with charming illustrations and notebook extracts

The Darcy Burdock series is one of my absolute favourites for younger readers. It's clever, funny and so very charming. I laughed my way through Sorry About Me, revelling in Darcy's kookiness and her ability to see the world the way she does. Surely she's now a literary icon for the 9+ age range?! Darcy is a character to love, as is her whole crazy family. The Burdocks are just so enjoyable to read about, whether they're catching mice or having a shouty rant at a horrid pet shop owner. Whatever they do, they always do it with style, and that's what makes them memorable. Sorry About Me is another genius addition to the Darcy Burdock series and I can't wait for more. I say that at the end of every book, but it's true: they're *that* good!

Ten-year-old Darcy sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her. This third book sees Darcy encounter extra-large-amounts of drama - mice have invaded her house, which means the family must get a cat. Cue a mega-meltdown in a pet shop and then the arrival of Pork, an angry dumpling of a cat who terrifies Lamb-Beth. And while chaos rules at home, Will's long-lost dad has turned-up and taken him out of school. Who will Darcy be friends with now? Must she hang-out with school secretary Mavis EVERY DAY FOR ALL ETERNITY? 
 
Joyous drawings, colourful characters and a high-energy voice - the Darcy Burdock books are packed with personality from start to finish.

Darcy Burdock: Hi So Much.

The second book starring Darcy Burdock - the cool, all-conquering new character for tweens.

The crazily inventive, brilliantly funny return of Darcy Burdock. Jacqueline Wilson fans will approve

Ten-year-old Darcy sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her. This second book sees Darcy move-up to Big School - and all of a sudden EVERYTHING changes. Her best friend Will isn't sure he should talk to girls anymore, her new teacher may in actual fact be a cauldron-bubbling witch and, horror of horrors, her precious pet Lamb-Beth goes missing. Can Darcy face these challenges head-on, armed only with her curious, whip-smart mind and eye for a story? 
 
Joyous drawings, colourful characters and a high-energy voice - the Darcy Burdock books are packed with personality from start to finish.

Darcy Burdock

It's time for a new, cool, all-conquering girl character for tweens - meet Darcy Burdock.

Britain finally has an answer to Jeff Kinney and his Wimpy Kid! if you haven't heard of Laura Dockrill before now then expect her to become a household name sometime in the next year.

Definitely, DEFINITELY beg your parents, siblings, cousins, friends, for this book!

I want to lay out a red carpet and hire an orchestra to announce the arrival of this book! Darcy is a quirky, hilarious, mischievous, kind and cool all at the same time. The writing in this book oozes personality and is extremely refreshing to read. Darcy's voice is unique and original keeping you entertained all the way through the book.

Ten-year-old Darcy Burdock is one of life's noticers. Curious, smart, funny and fiercely loyal, she sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her. 
 
In this first book, we are introduced to her family: Mum, who Darcy loves as much as her favourite fried egg and chips, Dad, who is kind and fair if a bit hopeless, and little siblings Hector and Poppy, who Darcy likes dressing up in ridiculous outfits and having dance-offs with, respectively. Plus there's her pet lamb, Lamb-Beth and best friend, Will, to have adventures with. 
 
Darcy learns that turning into an angrosaurus-rex and causing chaos just gets you in trouble, it's best not to throw a massive strop just before your surprise birthday party, Halloween is all about spider costumes and having a pumpkin with a wonky eye, and if you're ever in a situation where you're not sure what to do, you should write a story around it, and the truth will be illuminated by your imagination.

Laura Dockrill

Thank you for this book, for shining a light on the darkness of psychosis, an illness that absolutely does happen to people like us. I found this book a balm for my soul, and am grateful to Laura for bravely penning such a beautiful account of an illness that is rarely talked about

A book for those of us who didn’t have the fairytale. It’s important to know that even though things don’t always go to plan it doesn’t mean you aren’t a superhero or a power mum in your own right. Thank you Laura for making us all feel worthy. A must-read for all of those muddling through.

I saw the end of the world in her eyes. I knew she was in there somewhere but she was being held prisoner by her mind and we were all helpless to it. Sometimes things happen to us which means we can save other people, my own experience with mental health helped save her and now here she is about to save a whole generation of women!

A humblingly honest and human war-report from the front lines of mothering, psychosis and recovery: there is no other book like it, and it is so desperately needed.

Amazing. This book is proof that although Laura’s mind was her undoing, it is also an incredible asset which is going to help so many people.

Laura’s raw, honest book gets to the core of postpartum psychosis. Her style is blunt, graphic, diary-like, unflinchingly confessional - at times so colloquial that we feel we know her, or we want to know her: for her bravery in writing this book, for her humanity, for her sisterhood. She has emerged with a greater understanding of self, with deeper compassion for those who suffer from mental illness, and with a determination to combat stigma and ignorance by speaking out. Ultimately I hope this book will give women and their families confidence that the brain and body will heal. And I hope it will encourage other women to speak out.

Dr Jessica Heron, CEO, Action on Postpartum Psychosis

An incredibly powerful book. Brave, brilliant and so, so important.

This book will bring hope to many women and their partners who have struggled with their mental health during this already nerve-wracking and overwhelming time.

Raw, powerful, visceral: this book has so much to offer to anyone who reads it, whether they be a pregnant woman, new mother, partner, midwife, or someone recovering from mental illness. It is so important on so many levels to hear experiences like Laura’s to widen our understanding of these issues and how they can affect us.

I cried, laughed and cried again. It’s therapeutic to read and bloody amazing. This book will help to raise awareness and help people understand what it’s like to go through this, to see light at the end of the tunnel and know you won’t always feel like this.

Jessie Hunt, postpartum psychosis survivor

I absolutely loved this book. It’s so honest I related to the rawness of it all. There was so much I could identify with.

Helen Grimes, postpartum psychosis survivor

An important book and I have no doubt it will have a significant impact.

This is a generous, humane, brave gift of a book. Its guts and humour spoke to me loud and clear. I wept for Laura, women I love, and ones I’ve never met, many times throughout. There’s a conspiracy of silence around so many of areas of birth and new motherhood, and Laura is breaking the glass ceiling of it, with glorious honesty, humour and humility. I salute you, Laura - you’re a fucking warrior!

A humblingly honest and human war report from the front lines of mothering, psychosis and recovery: there is no other book like it, and it is so desperately needed.

This moving book was a pleasure to read and I didn't want to put it down. If anyone is going through a similar experience it will make them feel less alone.

Dockrill's raw yet ultimately hopeful account of her experience with postpartum psychosis shines an important light on a rarely discussed experience.

Bold, brave and raw, it must have taken immense courage to write this phenomenal memoir… It’s a tough read, but hugely inspiring…told with a winning dash of humour, and provides desperately needed insight into postnatal mental health

What Have I Done? is heartbreaking and brutal in its honesty, and it is remarkable that Dockrill has managed to wring black comedy out of so much suffering… [the book] offer[s] a hand of solidarity to other women, as well as the assurance that there is a way through

Motherhood, Mental Illness & Me

'Such a raw, honest and important book' Giovanna Fletcher 
 
Like any new mum, Laura Dockrill felt rather overwhelmed after the birth of her son. But a slow recovery, sleep deprivation and anxiety quickly escalated into postpartum psychosis, and she had to spend a fortnight in a psych ward, separated from her family. It was only when Laura began to put her ordeal into words that she began to find herself again, and recovery seemed within reach. 
 
This is Laura's raw, honest and life-affirming story of how she made it through one of the most frightening experiences a mother can face. Now, she wants to break down the silence around postnatal mental health, shatter the idealised expectations of perfect motherhood, and show all new struggling parents that they are not alone. 
 
'A book to save a whole generation of women' Adele 
 
A pleasure to read...I didn't want to put it down. If anyone is going through a similar experience it will make them feel less alone' Philippa Perry 
 
'A humbingly honest and human war report from the front lines of mothering psychosis and recovery; there is no other book like it' Caitlin Moran 
 
'An incredibly powerful book' Jessie Ware 
 
'This book will give women and their families confidence that the brain and body will heal' Dr Jessica Heron, CEO of Action on Postpartum Psychosis 
 
'An amazing read' Fiona Telford, postpartum psychosis survivor

Laura Dockrill

Praise for What Have I Done?

Thank you for this book, for shining a light on the darkness of psychosis, an illness that absolutely does happen to people like us. I found this book a balm for my soul, and am grateful to Laura for bravely penning ...

Mind-blowing

A book for those of us who didn’t have the fairytale. It’s important to know that even though things don’t always go to plan it doesn’t mean you aren’t a superhero or a power mum in your own right. Thank you Laura f ...

Thank you for this book, for shining a light on the darkness of psychosis, an illness that absolutely does happen to people like us. I found this book a balm for my soul, and am grateful to Laura for bravely penning ...

Mind-blowing

A book for those of us who didn’t have the fairytale. It’s important to know that even though things don’t always go to plan it doesn’t mean you aren’t a superhero or a power mum in your own right. Thank you Laura f ...

Thank you for this book, for shining a light on the darkness of psychosis, an illness that absolutely does happen to people like us. I found this book a balm for my soul, and am grateful to Laura for bravely penning ...

Mind-blowing

A book for those of us who didn’t have the fairytale. It’s important to know that even though things don’t always go to plan it doesn’t mean you aren’t a superhero or a power mum in your own right. Thank you Laura f ...

Books by Laura Dockrill

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