- Picture Books
- Ages 3–7
- Comedy
My Parents Won't Stop Talking!
Molly is desperate to get to the park, until her two mums bump into the neighbours and settle in for an endless, unbearably boring grown-up chat. A laugh-out-loud picture book about the exquisite agony of childhood impatience, drawn by Tillie Walden.
- Best for3–7
- FormatPicture
- Length40 pp
- Read aloud~8 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
It's time to go to the park, and Molly could not be more ready. It's going to be awesome and amazing and, oh no. The across-the-street neighbours, the marvellously named Credenzas, have spotted her mums, and now the four grown-ups have settled in for a Chat. The topics, recipes, DIY, absolutely everything, are agonisingly BORING, and as the minutes stretch into hours and the hours into eons, Molly slides into full comic despair, imagining herself trapped forever in a grey void of adult conversation. Her little brother Seth is far too young to grasp how hopeless it all is. Written by Emma Hunsinger and illustrated by Tillie Walden, this NPR Best Book of the Year is a gloriously funny, wildly expressive celebration of impatience, capturing that very particular childhood torture of waiting for adults to just. Stop. Talking. A read-aloud that both children and their long-winded parents will recognise instantly.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
A comic picture book for 3-7s that reads aloud brilliantly and lands just as well with the grown-ups doing the talking. There's no peril at all, just relatable impatience, so any listener can enjoy it, and its humour gives it real adult crossover appeal.
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- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 3–7
- Independent · 6–8
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny read aloud
- Relatable stories
- Expressive art
- Impatient kids
Avoid if
- Wants calm bedtime
- Wants plot driven story
Particularly good for children who are…
- Lgbtq parent family
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Every child knows the special torture of waiting while parents talk and talk, and Molly's slow-motion meltdown, complete with imagining herself trapped forever in a boring grey void, is hilarious and completely true. Her huge, over-the-top despair makes them feel wonderfully seen.
- Being understood finally
- Revenge on adults
Why parents love it
It's genuinely funny for the adult reading it, because you are absolutely one of the endlessly chatting grown-ups, and Tillie Walden's expressive artwork wrings maximum comedy from Molly's agony. It normalises a two-mum family without fuss and gives everyone a good, knowing laugh.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Conversation starter
- Cultural representation
About the creators
About the creators.
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