From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4 A lot of angleswhat causes divorce, why people get married, why the child usually lives with the mother, how to enjoy separate families, how parents sufferare covered superficially. The information and informal language are designed to be cozy and comforting, but the end result is sometimes confusing and disturbing. For example, if parents marry because they fall in love and want to be together always and split up because they don't have ``enough love'' or because ``people change'' or because another lover enters the picture, children could assume that their parents may not stick with them either. The suggestion that ``millions and millions and millions'' of divorces occur each year and the laid-back advice to cheer up because ``feeling sorry for yourself is only going to make you more miserable'' and to be helpful because the folks are having problems, too, are not terribly reassuring. Luckily, the cartoony color illustrations caricaturing adults and children are lively, amusing, and sensitive. Dinosaurs Divorce (Little, 1986) by Marc Brown tells it all better in a charming comic strip format. What's Going to Happen to Me? (Four Winds, 1978) by Eda LeShan is more serious but gently understanding and thorough. Patricia Pearl, First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Peter Mayle and Arthur Robins, the bestselling team that created Where Did I Come From?, combine their talents once again to tackle a subject that is as difficult for parents to explain as it is for children to understand.
In Why Are We Getting a Divorce?, Mayle and Robins focus on the emotional issues surrounding divorce in a down-to-earth, objective way. For instance, why people get married in the first place and what can go wrong; three misconceptions children have about divorce; how to help a child accept a new man or woman in a parent's life; how to adjust to living with one parent and how to overcome the profound feelings of loss and hurt every child of divorced parents experiences.
Why Are We Getting a Divorce? is a book for the entire family. It helps parents understand some of their children's concerns about divorce and offers children sympathy, reassurance and sound advice.
With their trademark blend of humor and sensitivity, Peter Mayle's thoughtful text and Arthur Robins's delightful illustrations will bring smiles to even the saddest faces.
In Why Are We Getting a Divorce?, Mayle and Robins focus on the emotional issues surrounding divorce in a down-to-earth, objective way. For instance, why people get married in the first place and what can go wrong; three misconceptions children have about divorce; how to help a child accept a new man or woman in a parent's life; how to adjust to living with one parent and how to overcome the profound feelings of loss and hurt every child of divorced parents experiences.
Why Are We Getting a Divorce? is a book for the entire family. It helps parents understand some of their children's concerns about divorce and offers children sympathy, reassurance and sound advice.
With their trademark blend of humor and sensitivity, Peter Mayle's thoughtful text and Arthur Robins's delightful illustrations will bring smiles to even the saddest faces.
About the Author
Peter Mayle (words) and Arthur Robins (pictures) have been offering information for children and help for concerned parents since Where Did I Come From? was published in 1972. They are also the creators of What's Happening to Me?, Sweet Dreams and Monsters and Baby Taming.
