Gemma Greening never had plans to become a published author. It wasn’t until a string of funny poems she had scribbled over birthday cards to her husband; mainly for the amusement of her two sons, Alfie and Oliver, snowballed into an idea for a children’s fiction book, and all of a sudden ‘Messy Dad’ was born.

Having always had a way with words; often writing short poems here and there when she found the time, Gemma struck gold when she started constructing and stringing together some silly and satirical rhymes all based on her frustration with her partner Ben’s lack of initiative when it came to housework.

Gemma says: “It all started as a joke to be honest, the kids and I would construct these poems to write on birthday and Christmas cards for their dad. My eldest, Olli, really likes getting involved. After showing the ideas of ‘messy dad’ to some close friends, I gained the confidence, but I needed to decide to share it with an audience.” 

Messy Dad is a cheeky and brassy short rhyming story, with silly anecdotes. Illustrator Matt Prewett successfully heaps on the comedy matching each verse to an equally wacky cartoon, tying the book together as dessert for your eyes. The story follows our leading man Messy Dad who happens to have some rather questionable hygiene habits and struggles to hold down the fort whilst his wife is at work.