Divorce
Easy Books
Boundless Grace
Mary Hoffman (E); pictures by Caroline Binch. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 1995. “Sequel to Amazing Grace.” Grace is invited for a visit with her father and his new family in Africa.
Fred Stays With Me
Nancy Coffelt. (E) A girl describes how sometimes she lives with her mother and sometimes she lives with her father, but her dog is always with her.
I Don’t Want To Talk About It
Jeanie Ransom. (E) When a child’s parents tell her they have decided to divorce, the last thing she wants to do is talk about it. With her parents’ help, she learns that while some things will change, many other things, especially their love for her, will remain the same.
I Live With Daddy
Judith Vigna (E) Morton Grove, Ill. : A. Whitman & Co., 1997. Although she has written a book about her mother’s job as a television reporter and her mother may not be able to show up for Writers’ Day, Olivia manages to show that she loves both her parents despite their divorce.
It’s Not Your Fault, Koko Bear : A Read-Together Book For Parents & Young Children During Divorce
Vicki Lansky (E) This easy-to-understand children’s story and parenting guide revolves around a lovable bear who doesn’t want to have two homes when his parents decide to divorce. Koko’s experience will help children learn what divorce means, how family life will change, and understand that the divorce is not their fault.
Mama And Daddy Bear’s Divorce
Cornelia. Spelman (E) One sad day, Mama and Daddy say they are getting a divorce, and Dinah is scared. But when Daddy moves into his new home, Dinah and her sister Ruth visit him
My Mother’s House, My Father’s House
C.B. Christiansen. (E) A child describes having two different houses in which to live, “my mother’s house” and “my father’s house,” and what it is like to travel back and forth between them
The Not-So-Wicked Stepmother
Lizi Boyd.(E) New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking Kestrel, 1987. 32 p. Expecting her new stepmother to be mean, ugly, and horrible, Hessie is surprised and confused to find her not wicked at all.
Priscilla Twice
Judith Caseley (E) When Priscilla’s parents divorce, she learns that there are different kinds of families.
Sam Is My Half-Brother
Lizi Boyd. (E) New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking, 1990. A young girl, fearful that her newborn half brother will get all the attention, is reassured of her father’s love.
Some Frog!
Eve Bunting (E); illustrated by Scott Medlock. San Diego, Calif. : Harcourt Brace, c1998. Billy is disappointed when his father doesn’t show up to help him catch a frog for the frog-jumping competition at school, but the one he and his mother catch wins the championship and Billy begins to accept his father’s absence.
Totally Uncool
Janice Levy (E) ; illustrated by Chris Monroe. Publication info: Minneapolis, Minn. : Carolrhoda Books, c1999. As she describes all the things that are “uncool” about her father’s latest girlfriend, a young girl begins to admit that there are some things she likes about her.
Two Old Potatoes And Me
John Coy (E) This funny, loving story about a single father and his daughter moving on after a divorce is told from May to September—potato-growing season—and includes all the basic steps for growing potatoes while subtly dealing with the parents’ divorce. Also includes recipes
The Un-Wedding
Babette Cole (E) As their parents disagree more and more about everything, Demetrius and Paula Ogglebutt decide that everyone would be happier if they “un-marry.”
What I’ll Remember When I Am A Grownup
Gina Willner-Pardo (E); illustrated by Walter Lyon Krudop. Publication info: New York : Clarion Books, c1994. 40 p. During a weekend stay with his father and stepmother, a young boy comes to terms with living with two separate but loving families.
Juvenile Fiction
Amber Brown Is Green With Envy
Paula Danziger (JF); illustrated by Tony Ross. New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, c2003. 151 p. Fourth-grader Amber Brown must make some important decisions when her mother and Max move their wedding date up and prepare to buy a house together, while her father makes some bad choices of his own.
Buttermilk Hill
Ruth White (JF). New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004. 167 p. When Lindy’s parents divorce and gradually begin to make new lives for themselves she finds all the changes difficult, but in time she starts to find her own way.
Clay
Colby Rodowsky.(JF) New York : Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2001. 165 p. Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee 2004-2005. After their parents divorce, eleven-year-old Elsie and her younger brother Tommy, who is mentally “different,” must deal with a terrible secret that causes them and their mother to move from place to place and stay in hiding.
Ginny Morris and Mom’s House, Dad’s House
Mary Collins Gallagher. (JF) Magination Press, c2005. 47 p. Two years after her parents’ divorce, almost-nine-year-old Ginny Morris is still frustrated by trying to keep track of clothing and homework as she moves from one house to another each Sunday, but is learning to tell her parents when things bother her.
Ginny Morris And Dad’s New Girlfriend
Mary Collins Gallagher (JF) Magination Press, c2007. 63 p. Ginny Morris’s parents are divorced, which is bad enough, but now her dad has a girlfriend! Who is this strange man who’s become a clean freak and smiles all the time? Will her dad still be the same? Does this ruin any chance her parents will get back together?
Lucy Rose : Big On Plans
Katy Kelly (JF) ; illustrated by Adam Rex. New York : Delacorte Press, c2005. 163 p. Lucy Rose records in her diary her special summer plans—to make a keychain for her mother, to help decorate the living room, to prevent her parents’ divorce, to vanquish some squirrels, and to enjoy a ninth birthday adventure with her father.
Southpaw
Rich Wallace. (JF) New York : Viking, 2006. 112 p. After moving to New Jersey following his parents’ divorce, Jimmy Fleming tries out for the seventh-grade baseball team while also trying cope with his new life and dealing with his overly-competitive father.
Stranger in Dadland
Amy Goldman Koss. (JF) New York : Dial Books, c2001. 119 p. Twelve-year-old John develops a new understanding of his divorced father during an eventful summer visit to California.
Juvenile Non-fiction
Dinosaurs Divorce
Laurene Krasny Brown and Marc Brown (JUV 306.89 ROG). Boston : Atlantic Monthly Press, c1986. 32 p. Dinosaur characters introduce aspects of divorce such as its causes and effects, living with a single parent, spending holidays in two separate households, and adjusting to a stepparent.
Divorce
Fred Rogers (JUV 306.89); photographs by Jim Judkis. New York : G.P. Putnam’s, c1996. 32 p. Series: (Let’s talk about it / Fred Rogers)
A Friend Can Help
(JUV 158.25 BER) Photography: Heinz Kluetmeier. Milwaukee, Advanced Learning Concepts, distributed by Childrens Press, Chicago, 1974 .32 p. A young child whose parents do not live together acquires strength and self-esteem from her relationship with a friend.
How It Feels When Parents Divorce
Jill Krementz. (JUV 306.89 KRE) New York : Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1984. 115 p. Boys and girls, ages seven to sixteen, share their feelings about their parents’ divorce.
Stepfamilies
Fred Rogers (JUV 646.78 ROG); photographs by Jim Judkis. New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, c1997. “Mister Rogers’ neighborhood.” Discusses the changes involved in becoming part of a stepfamily and ways to deal with the new situation.
Why Do Families Break Up?
Jane Bingham. (JUV 306.89 BIN) Chicago : Raintree, c2005. 48 p. Series: (Exploring tough issues) Contents: Getting along — Daily life — When things go wrong — How it feels — Splitting up — Moving on.