Dinosaurs Divorce: A Guide For Changing Families [Hardcover]

Laurene Krasny Brown (Author), Marc Brown (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 1986 | Age Level: 6 and up

Text and illustrations of 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A little bit like a comic book, sort of a reference bookit's hard to classify this latest work from the Browns, but that's all right. Both children and parents will use this as they wish, for it faces head-on the emotional (sadness, anger) and physical (separation from loved ones, what to call your new father's ex-wife's children) problems of divorce. It's comprehensive, reminding kids to take care of themselves and to think of how others are feeling. If children spend time in two households, this book shows them the way to get along with the people and the rules in both. Dinosaur characters distance the readers if a situation in the book too closely mirrors their own. The pictures lighten up serious text, which in turn keeps the picturesand a child's worryfrom seeming silly and insignificant. Divided into sections like "Why Parents Divorce," "Living with Stepparents" and "Celebrating Holidays," parents can use this book to help their children understand sudden or impending changes. Divorce, for the picture-book age group or any child, is a difficult subject. Here readers will be reassured that just as the little dinosaurs survive divorce, so will they.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3 Children familiar with the Browns' Dinosaurs Beware (Atlantic, 1983) and Marc Brown's "Arthur" books (Atlantic) will delight in this new foray into an area of deep concern for the youngest readers. Sympathetic to the full range of feelings that divorce produces, the authors use evocative cartoon dinosaur characters to convey their message. Chapters address such concerns as why parents divorce, what will happen to "me," where will holidays be celebrated, living in two homes, etc. Expressively illustrated with accompanying succinct text, this upbeat, straightforward treatment of a potentially confusing, traumatic childhood experience is comprehensive. Prediction: this will become a real "security blanket" for those young readers in need. Mary Lou Budd, Milford S. Elementary School, Milford, Ohio.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st edition (January 3, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871130890
• ISBN-13: 978-0871130891
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,260,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dinosaurs Drinking??, July 31, 2004

By 

K. J. Martinez (New York) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dinosaurs Divorce (Paperback)

I was appalled when I turned the page and saw a picture of the 'mom' dinosaur drinking a martini with wine and liquor bottles on the table behind her, along with a bottle of pills spilled open! I just don't think that was appropriate for children.

In addition, I think the book should have been geared to DIVORCE and not dating and getting remarried. Those topics should have been addressed in a separate book. It is hard enough helping a child cope with divorce, let alone adding new step parents and step siblings in the mix much too prematurely.

Still searching for a good book for children on divorce. I was very dissapointed in this.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My Review of Dinosaurs Divorce, April 30, 2001

By 

Kathleen Donlon (Center Valley, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dinosaurs Divorce (Paperback)

This book plays as a comic strip filled with vital information for a child whom is experiencing the tragedy of divorce. The pages light up with the vibrant depictions of the dinosaur families. The characters are depicted with great detail to facial expressions. The cartoon drawings will help the reader understand and relate to the different emotions expressed. This great learning tool includes the topics: divorce words and what they mean; why parents divorce; what about you; after the divorce; living with one parent; visiting your parent; having two home.... It lets the child know that it is not their fault for the parents' divorce. It reassures the child that parents divorce when they are no longer able to get along no matter how hard they try. Feelings that a child may not be use to experiencing such as sadness, shame, anger, guilt, and/or worried about who will take care of you. The book instructs the child to talk about how they feel so they may feel better. Often a child may be afraid to cry but Dinosaurs Divorce lets them know that it is okay to let their feelings out through tears. What I really love is that the book is realistic and never lies to the child. A child is told the truth that although they may hope that their parents will marry each other, it is very unlikely because divorce is final and most parents do not get back together. While reading the book, the reader gains useful tips about what to do after the divorce. An example is to not listen when parents say bad things about each other. The book offers the advice to tell them that you love both of them and hearing such bad things upsets you. Every area of divorce and the repercussions that may follow are covered in this book. Being a child of divorce myself, I wish I would have a had a book like this to help me get through the bad times and to let me know that how I was feeling was normal. I bought this bought for myself and brought it how to show my mother. She too agreed on how a book like this would have been useful to her in explaining our new altered life to my brothers and I. This is an excellent book for anyone, regardless of age, to add to their bibliotherapy collection. I highly recommend this book of mental medicine!

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Paved with good intentions., March 3, 2002

By 

Dragonslayer (The Lower 48) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dinosaurs Divorce (Paperback)

Although possible sources of strife are briefly mentioned (your parents may criticize each other, or may not know how to relate to you), others are glossed over. The book assures the child reader that both parents continue to love the child, which is warm and fuzzy but not (in my experience as an elementary teacher) always true. Unfortunately.

In 31 pages, children who may be just facing the bombshell news of their parents' divorce are galloped willy-nilly through the times ahead, including the possible remarriage of their parents and the advent of stepchildren. It's true this is among the range of things that may have to be faced, but other unpleasant things that sometimes have to be faced during divorce are glossed over and left out (public scenes, calls to the police, institutionalization, alcoholism...). So why drag that in at such a delicate moment?

I wonder if this book perhaps offers more comfort to the parents of the children it's intended for than to the children themselves.