BOOKS FOR PARENTS
Many are available; these are some favorites many parents have suggested; let us know if you have some additions to suggest.
Mom's House, Dad's House: Making Two Homes for Your Child, Isolina Ricci. Ms. Ricci is a former therapist, former Assistant Director Center for Families, Children & The Courts for the Judicial Council of California, now Director of the California Family Mediation Office, and really knows the difficult emotional issues divorcing couples face in coping with their own feelings, severing the spousal relationship, and learning to cooperate with each other in post-divorce parenting. She encourages the sharing of parental rights and responsibilities following divorce, for the sake of the children, and offers model parenting agreements for divorcing parents. Terrific in the coverage of both adult emotions and single parenting.
Vicki Lansky's Divorce Book for Parents -Helping Your Children Cope With Divorce and Its Aftermath, presents practical suggestions for parents who want to learn those new parenting techniques and is based on the author’s own experiences, those of other divorced parents, and the expertise of professionals, Lansky offers sensible advice for almost every issue of parenting through divorce. Lansky identifies predictable behavior parents can expect from their kids and shows how to best respond to help them through the difficult transition.
Putting Children First: Proven Parenting Strategies for Helping Children Thrive Through Divorce, Joanne Pedro-Carroll, Ph.D. The breakup of a family can have an enduring impact on children. But as Dr. JoAnne Pedro-Carroll explains with clarity and compassion in this powerful book, parents can positively alter the immediate and long-term effects of divorce on their children. The key is proven, emotionally intelligent parenting strategies that promote children's emotional health, resilience, and ability to lead satisfying lives.
Custody Chaos, Personal Peace: Sharing Custody with an Ex Who Drives You Crazy, Carla Garrity, Mitchell Baris. This empowering guide is an inspirational roadmap for the millions of men and women navigating a rocky relationship with a former spouse while trying to maintain a healthy atmosphere for their child. Topics include: The 7 strategies for peace when an ex refuses to change, skills for taming former in-laws, ways to help children cope with a difficult parent, strategies, and alternatives for focusing anger, how to avoid hot-button issues, how to nudge an ex to change for the better, ways to deal with children's questions and confusion, the new partner's role in the old partner's shadow. This is the book for every frustrated parent coming out of a divorce who needs support in setting things right-the healthy, sensible, and sane way.
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Dinosaurs Divorce - A Guide For Changing Families, Laurene Krasny Brown, Marc Brown. Covers why parents divorce, having two homes, after the divorce, feelings kids have about divorce, celebrating holidays and special occasions, telling friends, and meeting parents' new friends. This is a brightly illustrated book full of situations to which children can relate, and can stimulate children into talking about their divorce-related feelings.
It's Not Your Fault, Koko Bear, Vicki Lansky. This is a wonderful book for children and their parents to read together. The book takes Koko through many situations children face as they begin going back and forth between their parent's homes and trying to understand divorce and its impact on them. There are notes at the bottom of the pages to parents explaining typical feelings and situations children experience as KoKo acts
them out. Also available in Spanish as No Es Tu Culpa KoKo Oso.
Healing After Divorce: 100 Practical Ideas for Kids, Alan D Wolfelt Ph.D., Raelynn Maloney Ph.D. Focusing on the natural grief children endure when their parents divorce, this guide helps kids process the common feelings of shock, sadness, anger, guilt, and relief while highlighting their most vital needs—love and support. The handbook helps children name and understand these strange new emotions and affirms that their
thoughts and feelings are natural while teaching them the value of constructively expressing them. An assortment of suggested physical and verbal activities for mourning grief are also included.
What Can I Do?: A Book for Children of Divorce, Danielle Lowry. When Rosie's parents tell her they are divorcing, she wonders what she can do to keep them together. She tries being her cheeriest self, giving them the money in her piggy bank, keeping the house clean, and getting good grades, but none of her plans work. By the time her parents separate, Rosie is sad, frustrated, angry, disappointed, and confused. One day she blows up at her best friend in school. As a result, she visits the school counselor and joins a group of children with divorced parents who meet and share their feelings, experiences, and helpful ideas. By the end of the year, Rosie has learned many good answers to the question, What can I do?