Once Upon My Dads' Divorce

by Seamus Kirst, Noémi Gionet Landry (Illustrator)

Overview

This book helps children understand the divorce of same-sex parents and how a child's living situation may change.

Once upon a time, Grayson's life was like a fairy tale. He lived in a big brick house with Papa and Daddy. They had chocolate chip pancakes on Saturdays and read bedtime stories together every night. But when Grayson's dads get a divorce, everything changes. First, Papa moves into an apartment. Then, Daddy moves into a smaller house. Now it's one week with Papa, then one week with Daddy. Will Grayson ever feel like himself again? Once Upon My Dads' Divorce sensitively portrays the challenges of moving from one house with both parents to two houses and offers reassurance on many questions and feelings readers may have after their parents' divorce.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433840746
Publisher:	Magination Press, American Psychological Association
Publication date:	11/07/2023
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 10.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Seamus Kirst is a writer whose work has been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, Forbes, The Advocate, and Vice. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Editorial Reviews

2023-09-09
A child processes parental separation.

When Daddy and Papa decide to divorce, Grayson’s life suddenly includes elements that will be familiar to many children. The parents share custody, switching off every week. Grayson’s life is split down the middle, too. The child takes some possessions back and forth between two residences that don’t feel like home after their “big brick house” got sold. Grayson also worries about being somehow responsible for the split, though a lack of defining characteristics makes it hard to know why, aside from this being a common concern among children whose parents separate. At one point Grayson hides under the bed in protest over having to move houses again, leading to a heartfelt conversation where both parents model ideal behavior during a divorce, talking through Grayson’s feelings together and making clear that the divorce stemmed from mutual change rather than animosity. With an overabundance of exclamation points and static illustrations that directly mirror the text, this is a necessary text for children who don’t see their family structure represented in other divorce books, but it’s a workaday solution to that problem rather than an engaging story that could reach a wider audience. A readers’ note offers adults more information on helping children cope with divorce. Papa is light-skinned, bearded, and burly; Daddy is slim, Black, and bespectacled. Grayson is tan-skinned.

Perfectly practical. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews