Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore [Paperback]

Kathy Stinson (Author), Vian Oelofsen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

A new look for an enduring book about a difficult issue.

Review of the first edition: "...poignant and easy to read."
-School Library Journal

Divorce is never easy, not for parents and especially not for children. More than 20 years ago, celebrated author Kathy Stinson wrote in a positive way about the confusion, insecurity and sorrow experienced by young children whose parents have separated. Since then, Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore has brought comfort to countless families dealing with this difficult issue. This critically acclaimed best-seller, reprinted 15 times, now returns with fresh new illustrations and updated text.

For the young girl of the story, splitting time between parents has its ups and downs. She likes the elevators and garbage chutes of mom's city apartment, but the horses near dad's country home are great, too. Not knowing where she'll be for holidays is hard. Even so, she is comforted knowing that each parent still provides the same love and caring --just not together anymore.

Sensitively told and featuring reassuring illustrations, Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore offers children a gentle entry into an upsetting subject.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kathy Stinson is the best-selling author of more than 20 books for children and young adults. She lives outside Toronto.

Vian Oelofsen is a cartoonist and the illustrator of several books for children, two of which have won awards in his native South Africa. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Annick Press; Revised edition (August 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1554510937
• ISBN-13: 978-1554510931
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.3 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The clue that Kathy Stinson has enjoyed a lifelong love of reading is in the wide range of books she has written. "What you read," she says, "influences what you write. And so does the day to day life that you live."

That's why Kathy's characters ride bikes along dirt paths, fall in love in summer, argue and have cozy chats with parents and friends, sometimes have trouble sleeping, and walk on beaches and city streets.

Kathy says, "It's also fun, as a writer, to imagine yourself into situations unlike your own." That's what she did when she wrote about Marie-Claire living through a smallpox epidemic in Montreal in 1885, and Mr. Elliot deciding as a grandfather that it's time he learned to read.

Kathy sorted mail, waited tables, and taught school before finally figuring out what she really wanted to do was write - everything from picture books to young adult novels, from biography to historical fiction. Readers never know what kind of book to expect from her next!

Kathy has served as Writer-in-Residence for several library systems in southern Ontario and has led writing workshops all across Canada.

Kathy is the mother of two grown children, who inspired some of her earliest books. She also has two grown stepdaughters and five grandchildren. If she's out buying them a present, chances are it's in a bookstore she'll be shopping. Of course!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull and obvious, October 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore (Paperback)

I found this an extremely dull and stilted story with no sense of humour or appreciation of a child's wit at all. It read like a school book with its clinical political correctness. If you're looking for a picture book about divorce for young kids I would recommend a book like Babette Cole's The Un-Wedding (also published as "Two of Everything") or Emily Haughton's Rainy Day. Cole's book is full of humour and yet deals with serious issues - my 4 y.o. wanted me to read it for her again and again in the months after the separation. Haughton's book is more dreamy and has a double meaning that appeals more to me than to my 4 y.o. but has a far higher quality than this book.

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read Book For Any Adult or Child of Divorce, January 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore (Library Binding)

If I were to read only one book in the whole world, I would choose "Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore". I was a teenager when my parents divorced, and I felt devestated, like my heart was being ripped in half. I first read this book when I was in my late twenties. I felt so much healing from reading this book, the words on the page allowed me to cry and know that it was o.k. Then towards the end of the book the author gives you a positive way to think and act about your feelings. This book is truely inspirational and has changed my life

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So depressing!!!, December 10, 2001

By 

SuperDougio (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore (Paperback)

I guess the point of this book was to get kids to identify with the lead character, know that their feelings around divorce are not unique, and help them to discuss how they are feeling. While it may succeed in those aims (if those were the aims), it manages to paint a rather bleak and depressing picture, and just made our family feel sad with very little positive to focus on. To give you an idea, the final words of the book are: "My mommy and my daddy love me too. Just not together."