The Divorce Helpbook for Kids

This is not just a book for kids about divorce, though. It's a book about life after divorce, too. The kids in MacGregor's book are dealing with visitation and custody and straddling two households and making it all work. Maybe it isn't easy, but it is possible and it is necessary.

Written in a reader-friendly, warm, down-to-earth style for children whose parents are divorcing, The Divorce Helpbook For Kids will also be useful for: divorcing parents who want to help kids understand; grandparents of divorced children; child and family therapists.

Author Biography: Cynthia MacGregor, author of 31 published books (with eight more due out in 2001), has helped kids through difficult situations in several of her previous books, including Why Do People Die?, Why do we have to move?, Why do we need another baby? and The Abduction Prevention Library (six books). Most of her books are either for parents or for kids. Herself a divorced mother, Cynthia has helped her own daughter (now an adult) cope with parental divorce.

A guide to dealing with the divorce of parents, discussing various reasons for divorce, the emotions experienced by the children, and ways of coping with the change.

It's in the news every day: divorce is tough on kids. MacGregor knows how tough, and she has prepared a down-to-earth guide that genuinely helps. Included are discussions about many topics troubling kids when their parents divorce: reasons parents get divorced; ways the divorce will change kids' lives; kids' feelings about divorce; things kids can do to help them feel better; who to talk to; what's likely to happen next.

This is not just a book for kids about divorce, though. It's a book about life after divorce, too. The kids in MacGregor's book are dealing with visitation and custody and straddling two households and making it all work. Maybe it isn't easy, but it is possible and it is necessary.

Written in a reader-friendly, warm, down-to-earth style for children whose parents are divorcing, The Divorce Helpbook For Kids will also be useful for: divorcing parents who want to help kids understand; grandparents of divorced children; child and family therapists.

Author Biography: Cynthia MacGregor, author of 31 published books (with eight more due out in 2001), has helped kids through difficult situations in several of her previous books, including Why Do People Die?, Why do we have to move?, Why do we need another baby? and The Abduction Prevention Library (six books). Most of her books are either for parents or for kids. Herself a divorced mother, Cynthia has helped her own daughter (now an adult) cope with parental divorce.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-MacGregor introduces herself as a divorced mom with the suggestion that her experience makes this book more meaningful to her readers. She attempts to talk directly to them and to be comforting and nonthreatening. However, there are certain underlying assumptions that detract from her effectiveness. She begins with two stereotypical examples: a girl who has a terrible day at school later experiences all the comforts that home can provide because her parents are not divorced. The second example is of a boy who has had a great day at school but comes home to an empty house, missing his dad's possessions as well as his physical presence. There are few discussions of the child who has moved from the house or the neighborhood. There are more positive statements about women than about men; in discussing the conflicts between parents the author mentions a father's lack of paying alimony three times and that follows shortly thereafter with the affirmation that a mother is not disloyal if she dates other men. The strengths of the book are the various alternatives suggested to conflicts that arise and the suggestions that readers take questions to parents or other close, responsible adults.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.