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Beautiful Chaos
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  • Published: 20 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781761620553
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

Beautiful Chaos

On Motherhood, Finding Yourself and Overwhelming Love

Formats & editions
Paperback
5 Mar 2024
Hardback
20 Oct 2026
EBook
5 Mar 2024
Audiobook
5 Mar 2024
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Featuring five exclusive new poems, this stunning foil-embossed hardback edition is a collector's item and gorgeous gift.

The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller.
Selected poems on motherhood from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs.

‘Reading Jess’s poems makes me feel like she’s somehow reached into my own personal reflections and articulated them in a way I never could.’ Steph Claire Smith

Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood – capturing everything from pregnancy to school age.

Upon becoming a mother, Jessica Urlichs was reminded that the everyday ordinary is extraordinary. As sacred and tender as early motherhood is, it also comes with its struggles. Beautiful Chaos is a collection that chronicles it all – the highs, the lows, the confusion, the loss of identity, the becoming, and the brutal but beautiful ways our children hold mirrors up to us. This collection inspires vulnerability and will be a cathartic, healing read for anyone who needs it.

These poems will remind you of a time gone by or ground you in the current moment. Either way, they will make you feel seen and comforted amidst the beautiful chaos that is motherhood.

'Beautifully validating, inspiringly poignant.' Anna Mathur
'A much-needed long exhale.' Zoe Blaskey
'So beautifully observed and shared.' Giovanna Fletcher
'A poignant and joyous ode to motherhood.' All4Maternity
  • Published: 20 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781761620553
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

About the author

Jessica Urlichs

Jessica Urlichs is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Beautiful Chaos and a poet who lives in New Zealand with her husband and three children. She has written a variety of children's books to help babies and young children navigate their emotions in their early years. Jess’s honest and heartfelt poetry about her family and motherhood continues to be a source of guidance for mothers and parents around the world to connect with, and her online community continues to grow.
portrait photo of Jessica Urlichs

Also by Jessica Urlichs

You'll Always Be My Baby
They Bloom Because of You
See all

Praise for Beautiful Chaos

Jessica’s words weave their way straight to the core of the motherhood experience. Beautifully heartfelt, inspiringly poignant and therapeutically validating.

Anna Mathur, author of Raising a Happier Mother

Reading Jess’s poems makes me feel like she’s somehow reached into my own personal reflections and articulated them in a way I never could.

Steph Claire Smith

Feeling seen and understood in motherhood is rare in our judgemental, advice-laden world. Jess’s beautiful words weave their way past your exhaustion, doubt and guilt – straight to soothe your soul. Reading this book feels like a much-needed long exhale.

Zoe Blaskey, founder of Motherkind

The poems are so beautifully observed and shared. The words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary. They remind you of what once was, while beautifully planting you in the now. I just want to go back to the start and read them all again. A beautiful companion to keep by my side.

Giovanna Fletcher

Jessica Urlichs’ book of poems is a poignant and joyous ode to motherhood. Above all, she reminds women that they are exceptional, and that is the real gift of this work.

All4Maternity