"Sometimes Mummy has happy days, where she talks and laughs all day long. Sometimes Mummy is sad. She cries all day and stays in bed. Sometimes she's so sad she has to go to hospital."

The symptoms of a mental illness can be challenging enough for adults to understand and live with. For a child whose parent lives with bipolar disorder, witnessing and experiencing the highs and lows that this particular mental illness brings with it can be very difficult for a child to process.

'My Happy Sad Mummy' provides both a starting point; for the necessary dialogue that will lead the child to a clearer awareness and understanding of their parent's illness, as well as comfort; to know that their experience is a shared one.

"I strongly recommend 'My Happy Sad Mummy' - I have not seen anything of its like before." - Professor Philip Mitchell (AM, Scientia Professor, Head of the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales and Director of the Black Dog Institute)

"Author Michelle's personal journey of living these experiences suffuses the book with meaning and a gentle humour, which will provide families with wonderful opportunities for conversation about making sense of the situation." - Rose Cuff (Executive Director, Satellite Foundation. Victorian FaPMI Coordinator - Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness).