Daddy's in Iraq, but I Want him Back [Paperback]

Carmen R. Hoyt (Author)

Book Description

An hour is a long time to a small child. How do you describe the length of a military war deployment to a preschooler? When attempting to tell my son that his Daddy was not going to be gone for just a week or seven wake-ups, but for several months, I longed for a better way to lay it out for him. I felt a need for this story to be written when my three year old, Jack, became very insecure upon his father's deployment to the War in Iraq. I wished there was a way to help him "get his little arms around" the situation. It was new for me also and I didn't know how to help him. When my husband returned safely, I wanted to write the story. I wanted to document this time in our family's life; to put parameters around the situation for little people, who have no idea what's going to happen or why. Hopefully children can use our story to help deal with these deployments by seeing that there is a beginning, middle and thank God, an end to their parent or loved one being gone.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carmen Hoyt is a homemaker currently living in Southen California with her husband, Gary and three boys, Grant, Jack and Ryan. Carmen grew up in a small town in Northern Wisconsin, where the family now spends summers. While attending college in Chicago, she met and married her husband who was finishing his Ph. D. in Psychology. Gary did his internship in the Navy and enjoyed military life so much so that they have chosen to remain a military familty for 10 years now. Gary returned safely from his first deployment to Iraq in September, 2004.

Product Details

• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (December 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412060427
• ISBN-13: 978-1412060424
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for kids of deployed soldiers!, June 11, 2007

By 

L. Bickett "militarywife" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daddy's in Iraq, but I Want him Back (Paperback)

I bought this book for a friend, who was having a hard time explaining to her three year-old son about his Daddy's deployment. I had seen this book online, when my own husband was deployed, but never bought it. I wish I had because I think my daugther would have benefitted from it.

I read this story to my daugther, before giving it to my friend. Her daddy had just gotten back from Iraq a few months earlier. She liked the story a lot and understood what the little boy in the story was going through. I think this story is good for ages three and up. My daugther is three and could understand it, but I think any younger and it would have been too much.

Warning Moms: You will probably cry while reading this story!! It was so hard for me to read this, without bawling my eyes out. I tried to hide my tears, for my daugther's sake, but it was really touching...especially if you have a husband deployed over there.

Great book! Would recommend it to anyone!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful, April 28, 2007

By 

L. Edgarton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daddy's in Iraq, but I Want him Back (Paperback)

Bought this for my 4 and 2 year olds, and it's the best deployment book we've read so far. They loved it and were able to identify with a lot in this book, despite the fact that there were some differences in our situation. They loved that it was written from a little boy's perspective, and that his picture is included at the end of the book. I am recommending this book to all my military friends with kids struggling with deployments, even if Daddy's somewhere other than Iraq. The basic identification of the emotional issues with Daddy's being gone outweighs the situational differences.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daddy's in Iraq, May 12, 2007

By 

Shari L. Gerhard "Shari" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daddy's in Iraq, but I Want him Back (Paperback)

Wonderfuly written. Bought this book to help my children understand where "Daddy" is and we are not the only ones who have to go through deployments. Our children are able to relate to the main character and before long their Daddy will be back just like his. Thank you for a great book.