Jacinda Ardern has unveiled her second book, a 32-page children’s story titled Mum’s Busy Work, as she continues to promote her personal brand from the comfort of a Harvard University post in the United States.

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The former New Zealand prime minister, who faced public backlash for the country’s brutal Covid restrictions, presents the book as a gentle reflection on “working mum guilt.” Told from the perspective of her daughter Neve, the story follows the child through a week of missing her mother while she works.

From the very start you could tell Ardern is a desperate narcissist.

Now having fled the country she destroyed & is hated by all, she desperately clings to her attempts to rebrand herself is a figure worthy of respect.
Just a disgusting narcissist to the core. pic.twitter.com/WfjOLtgmoy

— The Real Joker (@EvilArthurFleck) September 19, 2025

In her earlier memoir A Different Kind of Power, Ardern wrote that she “considers her greatest roles to be those she will hold for life ... being a mum and proud New Zealander.” She recalled fearing the moment she would hear “guilt-inducing words” from Neve and have to choose between politics and parenting.

“What I felt - that constant ache that I should be with her more - had been created by me, all on my own. But tonight, Neve finally asked me the question I’d known would come eventually: ‘Mummy, why do you have to work so much?’” Ardern wrote.

Michael Laws on Jacinda Ardern’s lack of insight, which just keeps going. pic.twitter.com/36R9AnGqcE

— The Platform NZ (@theplatform_nz) September 18, 2025

When asked by Neve what her job is in the book, she tells her, 'Looking after everyone, like you.' Some New Zealanders have found this line particularly patronising, pointing out that during the pandemic Ardern’s government often treated grown adults as if they were children while enforcing some of the world’s harshest restrictions.

Now based in Boston, Ardern launched the book with a reading in New York, declaring, “This book is based on the words and lessons taught to me by my daughter while I was the prime minister of New Zealand. May every child know that no matter what, they are our life’s greatest work.”