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Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups
The Ladybird Book of the Mid-Life Crisis
This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books which have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them. The large clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. The subject of the book will greatly appeal to grown-ups.
56 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
April 17, 2016
My wife bought me this for my 41st birthday, clearly under the impression that she is hilarious.
I'm now staring at my Star Wars Lego and sobbing.
I'm now staring at my Star Wars Lego and sobbing.
February 5, 2017
As with all the other books in this series this one is funny, irreverent but with a resounding ring of truth.
The mid-life crisis is that time of life when you look back and realise that life isnt what you thought it would be and (in the words of Hamiliton) there are a 'million things you haven't done'.
In other words you are getting old and death is approaching, time is running out and all your options with it. So (according to this book) people do all kinds of things to make up for the fast pace of time such as taking up new hobbies, taking up with younger lovers, trying to capture lost youth, buying childhood toys etc etc
Of course it is funny, painfully funny in some places, but it is a bit short compared to other books in this series.
But not everyone has a mid-life crisis. Some people (such as myself) just revel in newly disposable income, freedom from childcare responsibilites and a kind of F' it attitude because you look good for your age, have brains and talents, but mostly because having done everything you need to you don't really give a s*#*.
Just sayin.
So this is another funny story from the series which left me wanting to read more of these. Not a strong favourite in the series for me but still a very good one.
Copy provided by the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
The mid-life crisis is that time of life when you look back and realise that life isnt what you thought it would be and (in the words of Hamiliton) there are a 'million things you haven't done'.
In other words you are getting old and death is approaching, time is running out and all your options with it. So (according to this book) people do all kinds of things to make up for the fast pace of time such as taking up new hobbies, taking up with younger lovers, trying to capture lost youth, buying childhood toys etc etc
Of course it is funny, painfully funny in some places, but it is a bit short compared to other books in this series.
But not everyone has a mid-life crisis. Some people (such as myself) just revel in newly disposable income, freedom from childcare responsibilites and a kind of F' it attitude because you look good for your age, have brains and talents, but mostly because having done everything you need to you don't really give a s*#*.
Just sayin.
So this is another funny story from the series which left me wanting to read more of these. Not a strong favourite in the series for me but still a very good one.
Copy provided by the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
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December 17, 2015There may be 37-year-olds who could read this with unalloyed amusement, rather than feeling a chilling breath on their neck even through the chuckles. Even if so, I am not one of them.
January 26, 2020
#41 of 2020
4 "Ridiculously Mid-lifey" stars
These Ladybird books for Adults are crazy funny!!!!
4 "Ridiculously Mid-lifey" stars
These Ladybird books for Adults are crazy funny!!!!
June 1, 2022
Brilliant.
October 4, 2016
Part of the inspired Ladybird re-boot series "specially planned to help grown-ups with the world around them". They are designed to be ironic and funny but this title has a poignancy and sadness lurking beneath the surface.
October 16, 2017
Published in the US as “The Fireside Grown-Up Guides” and in the UK as “Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups” these amusing little books with their vintage Ladybird illustrations are great fun and make wonderful presents. Covering a range of topics they rarely fail to raise a smile, but essentially they’re not the sort of book that reward multiple readings so once read soon forgotten. Nevertheless, a laugh or even a smile is always worthwhile aiming for so I do in fact recommend them. This is perhaps not one of the funniest but certainly delivers a few home truths.
December 31, 2015
My fourth book in this series today, and boy was this one vicious...
I've also noted that this Ladybird collection is "Series 999", a seminal moment in their history.
Example funny:
So entirely accurate...
I've also noted that this Ladybird collection is "Series 999", a seminal moment in their history.
Example funny:
Philip has a recurring dream where he is an overstuffed dummy on a blazing bonfire. Children point at him and laugh.
"Look at him," they say. "He is fat and hopeless."
"Burn him! That's all he's good for! At least he can keep us warm!"
Philip does not burn. He cannot even do that properly.
So entirely accurate...
July 19, 2019
I read this in about ten minutes. I’m not sure it should count 😆but it’s here on GR, so I guess that’s enough. It was pretty funny, although sometimes this type of thing leaves me torn between having a laugh at my own 48-year-old expense, and being a bit dismayed at how easily we can put ourselves down for having any interest in self-actualization when we’ve passed the age of twenty-one.
May 22, 2018
These are fun enjoyable reads.
Entertaining stock-fillers, though Id image most readers would have forgotten the jokes by January!
Entertaining stock-fillers, though Id image most readers would have forgotten the jokes by January!
July 8, 2017
Not as cool as the Zombie Apocalypse one, but got an amused huff out of me here and there.
June 30, 2020
This is so relatable and such fun short read!
November 19, 2021
Priceless! Rather cheeky but enjoyed it ;)
December 20, 2016
I went clothes shopping in ****, picked up this book which looked like a children book, and kept turning the pages until I hit the back cover and realized that I had been standing there in the middle of the shop smiling for quite a while. One of the micro-stories says that midlife crisis can be cured if people consider worse things that can happen to them, like being shot (the micro-story and the drawing tells this in a much nicer way, go read it).
November 26, 2015
A summary of issues related to “the mid-life crisis” in the format of a children’s book.
Anyone of a certain age (over 40) will probably find this book painfully funny.
Anyone of a certain age (over 40) will probably find this book painfully funny.
August 14, 2017
Just as good as the other books in the series. Great illustration to accompany the text. There are some dark parts in this book.
June 22, 2020
мила печальна книжечка про те, що в юності все здається можливим, а потім якогось дня виявляється, що вже не все.
February 9, 2022
Interesting 😁
March 11, 2024
Hilarious
October 9, 2025
I have given the book 4 stars, because, quite frankly, the humour was wasted on me… but in the best way possible. Three weeks ago I started at university, but nearly 4 years older than all the other freshers… this gave me a complex, so when I saw this book in the library I picked it up. All I can say is thank you to the author for humbling me… I might feel old in comparison to the surrounding 18 years olds, but at least I’m not searching for happiness in a bottle or having an affair 🫡
June 26, 2018
If you're here in the States, I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't know about Ladybird Publishing. Please forgive me if I'm too presumptive; despite my long association with and journeys to the UK, I was only vaguely familiar with them myself.
Ladybird publishs books for young children. But Ladybird has been around in some form or another since 1867, and in the process has accumulated a back catalog of illustrations from their publications.
And they've transformed those lovely treasures into The Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups:
"This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books that have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them.
As in the other books in this series, the large, clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. The subject of the book will greatly appeal to grown-ups."
The Mid-Life Crisis is empathetic to vulnerable grown-ups struggling through their mid-life crises, reassuring them that they are not alone in their desperation:
"Joe's body used to agree with him. It used to agree that his shirt fitted, that he could manage another pint, the he would be awake when the train reached his station, and that he had finished weeing. Now Joe's body disagrees with him on all these things."
"Phil does not regret leaving his wife, growing his hair and starting to wear cowboy boots. If he had not done that, he would never have met Megan. As long as Phil avoids making cultural references from before 1990, never reveals he has a blueyonder e-mail address and tries not to have a heart attack, he and Megan have a great future."
"Frank is forty-one. He has been to a record shop. He has re-bought all the music he liked when he was young, but in the most inconvenient format possible. He also asked the twenty-two-year-old behind the counter what new records were good. He bought everything she recommended because she had amazing hair. He hates all the new records, but not as much as he hates himself."
I'm thrilled to find that Touchstone looks ready to release a few of the books in this series in the States this fall, under a Fireside Grown-Up Guide to... line.
Yay!!!
Ladybird publishs books for young children. But Ladybird has been around in some form or another since 1867, and in the process has accumulated a back catalog of illustrations from their publications.
And they've transformed those lovely treasures into The Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups:
"This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books that have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them.
As in the other books in this series, the large, clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. The subject of the book will greatly appeal to grown-ups."
The Mid-Life Crisis is empathetic to vulnerable grown-ups struggling through their mid-life crises, reassuring them that they are not alone in their desperation:
"Joe's body used to agree with him. It used to agree that his shirt fitted, that he could manage another pint, the he would be awake when the train reached his station, and that he had finished weeing. Now Joe's body disagrees with him on all these things."
"Phil does not regret leaving his wife, growing his hair and starting to wear cowboy boots. If he had not done that, he would never have met Megan. As long as Phil avoids making cultural references from before 1990, never reveals he has a blueyonder e-mail address and tries not to have a heart attack, he and Megan have a great future."
"Frank is forty-one. He has been to a record shop. He has re-bought all the music he liked when he was young, but in the most inconvenient format possible. He also asked the twenty-two-year-old behind the counter what new records were good. He bought everything she recommended because she had amazing hair. He hates all the new records, but not as much as he hates himself."
I'm thrilled to find that Touchstone looks ready to release a few of the books in this series in the States this fall, under a Fireside Grown-Up Guide to... line.
Yay!!!
February 5, 2017
My Favorite Ladybird So Far
Many of these guides go for easy targets. Moms, Husbands, and so on. That's fine, but it's hard to score a zinger on every page when your topic isn't really that edgy or deserving of parody treatment. But here the authors were free to spread themselves and almost every page has a clever, snarky and well aimed barb. Everyone and every sort of mid-life crisis falls within their view and no one is spared. While still fundamentally good-natured and good-humored, these little mini-observations and pronouncements, which are teamed up especially well with the vintage drawings, strike a chord more often than not. Because each and every word is chosen with care, and because timing and tone is superb, this is one volume that particularly lends itself to rereading. A very nice effort.
For what it's worth, the books in this series are published in the U.K. as "Ladybirds for Grown-Ups". The "Fireside Grown-Up Guides" are now starting to be published in the U.S. by Simon & Schuster, and are fairly faithful adaptations. Either way you can find them, as Ladybirds or as Fireside Grown-Up Guides, these books are a hoot.
So, a cheerful bit of parody fun and a nice find. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
Many of these guides go for easy targets. Moms, Husbands, and so on. That's fine, but it's hard to score a zinger on every page when your topic isn't really that edgy or deserving of parody treatment. But here the authors were free to spread themselves and almost every page has a clever, snarky and well aimed barb. Everyone and every sort of mid-life crisis falls within their view and no one is spared. While still fundamentally good-natured and good-humored, these little mini-observations and pronouncements, which are teamed up especially well with the vintage drawings, strike a chord more often than not. Because each and every word is chosen with care, and because timing and tone is superb, this is one volume that particularly lends itself to rereading. A very nice effort.
For what it's worth, the books in this series are published in the U.K. as "Ladybirds for Grown-Ups". The "Fireside Grown-Up Guides" are now starting to be published in the U.S. by Simon & Schuster, and are fairly faithful adaptations. Either way you can find them, as Ladybirds or as Fireside Grown-Up Guides, these books are a hoot.
So, a cheerful bit of parody fun and a nice find. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
December 29, 2017
I must have missed the point. Or just tried to compare this with all the wonderful Ladybird titles I grew up reading. The one-star is for the beautiful illustrations because there’s not much else to this book. The “storyline” is a series of one-pagers about what various characters do to combat their mid-life crisis; neither funny, witty nor hopeful, I found the narrative utterly pointless. If it was meant to be full of scarcism to poke fun at how we try hard to distract ourselves as we grow older, I’ve certainly missed it.
February 7, 2017
Not quite as funny as The Meeting but still pretty funny. I like how the author has used the pictures to create the little stories and anecdotes. I probably didn't find it as amusing because I haven't actually reached middle age but I did recognise a lot of the little scenes/stories as funny cliches. Another enjoyable one which would make a great jokey present for someone hitting middle age head on.
January 14, 2017
This would make a perfect gift for any adult of that “certain age”. Pictures as some of us remember (and even then they seemed out of date!) and text to make you smile. Treated with a pinch of sarcasm, a hint of nostalgia and a large dose of hilarity this is a short easy, laugh out loud read. (I can’t put “lol” for a book that harks to the 1950’s!!). I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
January 17, 2017
I enjoy this series of books. They always make me laugh, and The Fireside Grown-Up Guide to the Mid-Life Crisis most definitely does that as well. The one on the Hipster has been my favorite so far, but this one is not far behind. If you're in the mood for a funny, quick read with great illustrations, this book (and the series as a whole) is the way to go.
Review Copy.
Review Copy.
February 7, 2017
I was lucky to be allowed to read this courtesy of the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I found it to be quite witty and amusing in the irreverent way it is presented like the ladybird books we read as children. Not quite as funny as the one about dogs but still worth dipping into!
October 13, 2019
I love how dry these books are. For example:
"Joe's body used right agree with him.
It used to agree that his shirt fitted, that he could manage another pint, that he would be awake when the train reached his station, and that he had finished weeing.
Now Joe's body disagrees with him on all these things."
"Joe's body used right agree with him.
It used to agree that his shirt fitted, that he could manage another pint, that he would be awake when the train reached his station, and that he had finished weeing.
Now Joe's body disagrees with him on all these things."
May 24, 2019
“When we are young, we all dream of doing something wonderful and exciting with our lives. What will we be? A cosmonaut? An underwater detective? A tommy gunner? A groin surgeon? Anything is possible. And then, one day, it isn’t.”
The harsh realities of getting older, told in a piss-take style of the old Ladybird books. Great stuff!!
The harsh realities of getting older, told in a piss-take style of the old Ladybird books. Great stuff!!
December 23, 2018
I really liked the book, if it can be called a book.
And I don't know if that was funny or scary. I know I will feel a little bit like Mark or Gwen after 15 years or so, but man I am trying hard not to! Let's see of my fearful 20s can indeed save my 40s or not!
This was, so far, the best ladybird book for grown-ups. Looking forward to reading more of the series.
Happy reading! :)
And I don't know if that was funny or scary. I know I will feel a little bit like Mark or Gwen after 15 years or so, but man I am trying hard not to! Let's see of my fearful 20s can indeed save my 40s or not!
This was, so far, the best ladybird book for grown-ups. Looking forward to reading more of the series.
Happy reading! :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews