Book Talk

My Mom and Dad Don’t Live Together Anymore

A Drawing Book

For Children of Separated or Divorced Parents

This is a book that children can use to express their feeling about their parents not living together. Each page has a title, a space for the child to draw, and a sentence or two with blanks for the child to fill in. For example, one page is titled “How I Found out My Parents Were Separating”.  Under the title there is a space for the child to draw the scenario, and a couple of sentences that say “I did not know that my parents were going to separate until____. This picture shows how I found out, where I was, and who told me. In this picture____”. Another page is titled “When My Parents See Each Other Now”, and the paragraph says “Since they don’t live together anymore, my parents don’t see each other every day like they used to. In fact, when they see each other now, it’s often because of me, and I feel____ about that. When they do see each other, they act____. Here is a picture of how my parents act now when they see each other. In this picture____”.

This book would be great for children to express how they feel about the separation of their parents. Depending on the age of the child, parents could look at how he or she filled in the pages and see how he or she is feeling. This could help parents know what they need to do in order to make the change easier for the child. The back of the book says it is for children ages- 4-12, but I think that, depending on the individual, it could be used for an even older age. This book could also help children identify how they are feeling if they are having trouble sorting through their emotions. Children could also feel comforted to know that they are not alone; there is a book written about the situation, so they are not the only ones going through this hard time.

As a future teacher, I think this would be a great book to have in the classroom. Making photo copies of the pages that apply to students and letting them express their feelings would be a great idea. I would give them an envelope to put their pages in so they can decide whether or not they want to share their feelings with anyone else. I cannot see why parents would have a problem with their children filling out some of these pages, but just in case, sending home blank copies of some of the pages to parents and getting permission to give them to their children would be a good idea.  Children would probably respond positively to this text because it is a way for them to express their feeling on paper without having to think of what to write on their own.

Horton Hatches the Egg

In this story, Mayzie is a lazy bird who does not want to sit around and wait for her egg to hatch. She sees Horton the elephant near my and asks him if he will sit on her egg for a little while. Horton agrees and promises to sit on the egg until Mayzie returns. Mayzie is away for a very long time, but Horton stays true to his word and sits on the egg. Some hunters see Horton sitting in a tree and thought it was funny so they took him to a traveling circus where they eventually ran into Mayzie. When the egg cracked Mayzie tried to say that the baby was hers, but Horton said that he had done all the work so the baby was his. When the baby hatched, it turned out to be half elephant, half bird. Horton and the elephant-bird lived happily ever after.

This book would be a good book to read to a class or a group of kids because it is just a fun book that teaches about keeping promises, but underneath that there is another lesson. Some children might be able to relate to this book because they were abandoned by one parent, and are being raised by a single parent. Others may have been adopted by a single parent, and they can relate to the baby elephant-bird in the book. This book could be read to children of many ages, but the most effective would probably be from 4-8.

An obstacle to this text is that it might be a little difficult for children to see the underlying theme. This would not be so bad though, because the big theme of the book is responsibility and if the child needs something to relate to, they would probably achieve that with this book. I cannot see parents having a problem with this book because it is a classic Dr. Seuss that teaches an important lesson.

These are a couple of books that I looked at on the subject of single-parenting. I think these books are very important for teachers, parents, aunts and uncles to have for children who need support. Being raised by a single parent is by no means the worst way to grow up, but there are some definite hardships that go along with it. Books are a way for children to realize that they are not alone without them having to actually share their feelings. Books can be a support system for some children who do not have anyone to talk to. The first book that I reviewed, My Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore, is an example of a book that can be an outlet for a child who needs to get his or her feelings out but doesn't know where to go. 

Reading books with characters that children can relate to is one way that adults can help children through difficult times, even if the child does not want to talk. Books can open the door to further discussion, and can have answers to questions that the child might not even know he or she has. Reading this kind of book to a group of children has the potential to help children who do not even know they need the support. Although we may choose a book that has a helpful message for one child, another child in the group might benefit from listening to the book too.