The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams: Aged 2¼

by Katie Kirby

Life is hard for Archie. It often seems like the world is out to get him. People are always telling him what to do... 'Eat your tea Archie!', 'Don't lick the bus stop Archie!', 'Stop putting Mummy's phone in the bin Archie!' And then one day his heart is shattered when he learns his parents are to replace him with a younger sibling - the utter bastards! The only comforts he finds are in his best friend Amelie who teaches him all the good swear words, and the sweet relief he gets from sinking his teeth into other people's limbs. From naked protests to dealing with other people looking at YOUR THINGS! This is a no-holds-barred account of life told through the eyes of Archie - a creatively stifled, modern day toddler. Sunday Times bestseller Hurrah for Gin has delighted fans with its honest, emotional and laugh-out-loud account of parenting. Brilliantly illustrated with Katie Kirby's unique stick man drawings and told in the same outrageously funny way, The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams

Genres: Parenting, Humor, Comedy

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 3, 2018

About the author

Katie Kirby is a writer and illustrator who lives by the sea in Hove with her husband, two sons and dog Sasha.

She has a degree in Advertising and Marketing and after spending several years working in London media agencies, which basically involved hanging out in fancy restaurants and pretending to know what she was talking about, she had some children and decided to start a blog called 'Hurrah for Gin' about the gross injustice of it all.

Many people said her sense of humour was silly and immature so she is now having a bash at writing children's fiction. The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks is her first novel.

Katie likes gin, rabbits, over-thinking things, the smell of launderettes and Monster Munch. She does not like losing at board games or writing about herself in the third person.

Reviews

[Aiza Idris (biblio_mom) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its hilarious but too much cuss words. The cover is misleading too. I thought it would be a funny read to my 7 years old. He managed to read a few pages and then told me "Mom, this book have so many cuss words in it" 😅. But I get what the author is trying to do. Its purely entertainment. I picked this up as a "palate cleansers" 😆

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A laugh out loud read that’s so true to life.

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katie Kirby is back with the laugh out loud tales of Archie Adams. Once again, Kirby explores the difficulties of adulthood by looking through the eyes of a toddler. 

Again, Kirby’s writing is funny because it is relatable. I don’t have a child but I saw many of the same qualities in Archie that my niece had – contrariness about plate colour being one of them.

With her really funny illustrations to accompany the story The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams is a tonic.

The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams (Aged 2 1/2) by Katie Kirby is available now.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this quite as much as Katie Kirby's first book (the format wore thin for me after awhile) but she's still funny, and I thoroughly approve of anything that acknowledges the fact that, while motherhood can be beautiful and fulfilling, it's also tedious and despair-inducing sometimes. It's okay to not enjoy it all the time, and books like this normalise that, which I think is ace.

[Elizabeth Leather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally read this as memories of bringing up a toddler have faded enough to be able to laugh at them! Loved it, about to lend it to my Dad who managed to read half of it at my kitchen table yesterday. V funny. And bonus - it counts as one book towards my goodreads goal!

[Rachael Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious and totally relatable 🤣

[T.L. Searle · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother bought this book for my 11 (yes ELEVEN) year old daughter thinking it was a children’s book... it is NOT a children’s book!

Left unattended she got through the first few pages before she admitted there were ‘bad words’. My mother was mortified, naturally, my daughter found it hilarious.

So, book confiscated, I thought I’d give it a read. ‘‘Twas very funny. Not something I’d usually go for but when in Rome...

Think I’ll pass it on to a new mum to read, because, foresight!

[Rebecca Bowyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware: This book will make you laugh out loud and you'll want to read excerpts from every second page to anyone standing near you. You might want to warn your nearest and dearest.

I bought Katie Kirby's second book, The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams (aged 2 1/4), while we were in the middle of renovating our house. I'd made so many decisions and plans that my brain was ready to explode and I couldn't face reading a regular novel.

The diary of a toddler seemed to just about fit with how much brain power I had available.

If you've got a deranged toddler in the house, 2-year-old Archie Adams will probably be very familiar and make you feel better about parenting in general.

If your deranged toddlers have grown up and you're getting clucky over all your friends' newborns, Archie Adams will be an excellent contraceptive.

[Kelly PoweredByPlants · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bit of fun, tongue in cheek diary of toddler Archie adams and his take on life .
From the endless supply of flavourless rice cakes to keep him in the transportable straight jacket (the buggy 🤣) to the night time game he plays with mummy , pretending to be asleep while mummy army crawls out of the room to then surprise her when she reaches the door! 😂

I could definitely relate to the elf entries , the amount of nights I would be just falling if to sleep and then think *#!% the elf ... drag myself out of the warm bed and have to think of something for him to do 😅

Really did make me giggle

Another one off my TBR shelf!

[Lucy Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some laughable moments in this book but I found a lot of it quite irritating and not cute like I thought I would. The character of Archie swears all the time and I feel that as a 2 year old child, this is a touch unrealistic. Some of the drawings were quite humorous. I'm glad I only paid 33p for this because it really didn't take me very long to read (about 1 hour) and was not particularly enthralling.

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely had me laughing, but I didn't like it as much as her first as I couldn't get past the fact that it would've been more accurate to say Archie is 4 rather than 2 ¼. I currently have a nearly 2 year old myself and there's no way his inner dialogue is this. I get that it's all meant in fun and not serious at all, but that tiny age thing just distracted me too much! Otherwise a fast, fun read.

[Harriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I go to Little Angels Day Nursery three days a week... I cry every time I get dropped off to make [Mummy] feel like career obsessed bitch, but the jokes on her because I actually really like it. Am such a trickster - Ha ha!

This book is hilarious. I could not stop laughing. I was turning page after page and wanted to read more when I'd finished.

[Elissa Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book filled with the humour of Kirby. Anyone with young kids could definitely relate and a few times I was laughing out loud and waving it around to my husband. I have come to appreciate the beauty and skill of humour books for their ability to have us laughing as well as thinking which Kirby manages to achieve with the right balance.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Its so relatable when you have a child the similar ages as you can imagine that this is the thought process of a toddler. Had me giggling and constantly reading out the lines to my husband just as I did with the first book.

[Mandy Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOL quite a lot with this one !!
I went between been annoyed , because Archie is so annoying at times and actually agreeing with him !
A good book to read if you want to be put off having children 😳

[Jenny Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing read. I’d possibly pick fault with a couple of things he is supposed to be able to do at this age - but that’s not really the point, and having dealt with a toddler struggling with the arrival of a sibling, it certainly rang true!

[Kate Levett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for reminding me that this is NORMAL 2 year old behaviour!

Brilliant. Just what the doctor ordered since the first choice (sleep)is no longer available to me. Spat my brew out funny.

[Keryn Honeycombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brutally honest and raw account of parenting by Katie Kirby. Archie Adams - aged 2 and 1/4 (don't get that wrong!) is an interesting little fellow and makes me feel so much better about my kids and my parenting skills...he does crack me up though - am seriously hoping it's totally fiction!

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This HAS to be the funniest book I've ever read! Found it in an outside library at a park, read it in 3 hours while swinging on a hammock, what a great time! Was laughing in every single page.... How come all of my favourite books end up being diaries lmao...

[Lisa Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic, but not kindle version

Fantastic book.
But the kindle version was terrible. Drawings too tiny to see on kindle, same issue with the previous book

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read

[Emma Sargeant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book to read on a cold November Sunday afternoon. Made me laugh out loud and could relate to so much of it!!

[Jo-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny..even for non-parent like me! lauged out loud a lot!

[Sarah Avery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Became repetitive. Not that funny or imaginative.

[Becky Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious! Laughed from start to finish.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

So true and so funny!

[Bookwormthings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, he's got a foul mouth on him.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as funny as the first one, but has its moments. I LOL'ed about the Babyccino and the entries about Christmastime.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come

[C Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty, entertaining read just like the book that preceded it. Limited re-read value, but it made me laugh out load several times over a Xmas.