Dinosaurs Divorce: A Guide for Changing Families

This book is actually one of my favorite books of all time. I read this book when my parents got divorced, so it has a special spot in my heart. One reason why this book always resonated with me was the illustrations. I felt like I could relate because the characters were DINOSAURS. There was no "black" or "white" or "christian" or "jewish". The dinosaurs could represent anyone, which is a safe feeling. Also, the dinosaurs were just so silly looking. They have these huge nostrils that always managed to crack me up.
Another reason why I liked this book was because of the fluidity. I like how the book is separated into different sections, such as how a child may feel during/after the divorce. This gives each section meaning, and they show more usually flow into the next section.
The main idea of this book is that divorce is ok, even for dinosaurs. show less

Summary:

This informational book was basically a guide for children to help them tolerate and understand divorce. To make it seem cute and funny, the authors used dinosaurs as the characters in all of the illustrations and the title. Throughout the book it explains what divorce is and why parents get divorced. It expresses what kinds of feelings and emotions are natural to feel as a child going through this kind of experience. It gives insight to children about what life may be like with their parents after divorce and what it might be like living with one parent. It talks about visiting your parents, having two homes, celebrating holidays, telling your friends, meeting parents’ new friends, living with stepparents, having step show more siblings and basically all the ins and outs of divorce. It really is a ‘guide for changing families.’

Comments (opinions/arguments):

Having just read this book at twenty-four years old, I really wish I would’ve had this book when I was ten years old and having to deal with my parents’ divorce. Going through a divorce at a young age can be really confusing and hard to deal with. I know I struggled for a long time trying to sort out my emotions and feelings about my family and especially my parents. I held a lot of resentment towards both of them for a long time and I wish there had been a book for me to read to cope with the issues. I really enjoyed this book because although it looks like a children’s story book from the outside, it’s actually an informational guide for children who are dealing with divorce within their families. It’s even equipped with a table of contents and glossary on the first two pages. I also really liked that it had something new to talk about on each page. It was almost set up like a comic book strip, with multiple situations and pictures to go along with the words. This book is remarkable because it really hits on all of the things I wish someone would have told me as a child about divorce and it does so in a very logical progression of ideas. The author was really smart to start with explaining why parents’ divorce and immediately explain the feelings you as a child might start experiencing. I also thought it was really smart that the authors touched on how life would be after divorce, to kind of gear a child up for what to expect next. The part about how to tell your friends and how to deal with your parents dating someone new where the two sections that really hit home for me. When I was going through my parents’ divorce, it was really hard for me to explain what was going on to my friends and instead I moved away without even telling many of them. I also had a really rough time when my parents started dating again and I often was really rude and mean to both my parents and their girlfriends and boyfriends. Looking back now, if I had had a book like this to guide me along the way, things might have been different for me. This book really is a great book to teach children that divorce is natural and ok. I think it could really give a lot of children good advice and help them cope with this big change in their lives and among their families. It also helps that the story is conveyed through dinosaurs, letting children know that even dinosaurs divorce. show less

Being a child of divorce, I wish this book was around when I was younger! I felt so alone and confused when my parents were divorcing and this clearly explains that it's okay for a child to feel the way they do and that they are not alone. Marc Brown explains the process of divorce and what possible feelings the child may have and the things their parents might do. This book is fiction because of the dinosaur characters but is easily read and is appropriate for children in grades 1-3.

Unfortunately dinosaurs are extinct and divorce rates are on the rise. This story combines the two themes in a creative way to help children understand divorce is not their fault and suggests how to responsibly deal with the pain of divorce. Overall it's not the greatest for young children, but it's a start to help.

I like how the author decided to make an informational book about divorce in a fun way. He did this by making the story about dinosaurs and setting the book up like a comic strip. Marc Brown also made it easier for children to understand the book by making headings. For example, he wrote "Why Parents Divorce," "After The Divorce" and other helpful headings at the top of the pages. The central message is Divorce.

Summary: In this book, the author describes what divorce is, why it happens, what feelings you may experiences, how to cope with the negative feelings, and events that could possibly occur after the divorce.

This book explains in a thorough yet easy to understand manner aspects of what might happen before, during, and after parents divorce. The book speaks to children about how to cope with different scenarios and changes during divorce, and is accompanied by illustrations of a family of dinosaurs. I like this book because of it's pragmatic way of explaining divorce to children and would want to use it in my teaching while discussing family units. I think this book is appropriate for Grades 1-3 surrounding themes of change, divorce, and most especially family structures.

A wonderful guide on how to accept parents getting divorced. Many parents divorce and children tend to feel that its their fault or they could have changed the way things turned out. Kids need to know that it is never their fault when parents get divorced. This book gives several ways for children to cope with divorce. It lets them know what to expect and how to react to things when they come up. Such as a new step parent. I think this is a great book for young children who parents may get divorced and they dont fully understand how to handle the situation.