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Children's Nonfiction Marriage & Divorce

Why Do Families Change?

Our First Talk About Separation and Divorce

by (author) Jillian Roberts

illustrated by Cindy Revell

Publisher
Orca Book Publishers
Initial publish date
Mar 2017
Category
Marriage & Divorce, General, Stepfamilies, Parents, Emotions & Feelings
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459809536
    Publish Date
    Mar 2017
    List Price
    $0.99
  • Downloadable audio file

    ISBN
    9781459816688
    Publish Date
    Dec 2016
    List Price
    $0.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459826441
    Publish Date
    Sep 2020
    List Price
    $14.95

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 3 to 5
  • Grade: p to k
  • Reading age: 3 to 5

Description

Separation and divorce are difficult on the entire family.

Often young children blame themselves or are unsure of their place in the family if these events occur. Child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts designed the Just Enough series to empower parents/caregivers to start conversations with young ones about difficult or challenging subject matter.

Why Do Families Change? is part of the Just Enough series. Other topics in the series include birth, death and diversity.

About the authors

Jillian Roberts' profile page

Cindy Revell planned on becoming an artist ever since her first taste of wax crayons during her childhood in Carrot River, a small town in Saskatchewan. After some very uncreative forays into the working world Cindy realized that she needed to get back to art and went to college receiving her diploma in Environmental Graphic Design. Cindy worked as a designer and illustrator eventually going on to become an award winning freelance illustrator.

Her illustrations have been used on billboards, wine bottles, books, magazines, calendars, furniture, packaging and numerous children's books all over North America. She was nominated in 2001 for a Governor General's award for children's book illustration (Mallory and the Power Boy). Some of her clients are: Adobe, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Better Homes and Gardens, Cornell University, Penguin Putnam, Annick Press, Orca Book Publishers and Scholastic.

As well as being an illustrator, she is an accomplished oil painter. Several years of regular oil painting classes, numerous international and provincial workshops and traveling to view and learn from the old masters as well as her design and illustration training have helped her develop as a traditional realist.

Cindy loves the work of the Flemish oil painters and Spanish artist, Luis Melendez, while her illustration has been inspired by folk, medieval, and eastern art. Her oil painting and illustration are vastly different from one another, the oil paintings tending to be simple and elegant while the illustrations are full of pattern and whimsy. The common element in her oil paintings and illustrations is her use of colour which is always rich and lush.

Cindy is represented by Deborah Wolfe Ltd. See her work at http://www.cindyrevell.com.

Cindy Revell's profile page

Awards

  • Commended, OLA Top Ten Best Bets
  • Commended, Ontario Library association (OLA) Best Bets

Editorial Reviews

"Using upbeat, colorful illustrations and straightforward text, Roberts reassures kids that they are loved and that divorce or separation is not their fault...Potentially scary concepts, such as moving, are made accessible...A helpful tool for adults seeking to explain divorce to elementary students."

School Library Journal

"The answers throughout the book are realistic and appropriate...A useful resource for a common issue."

Kirkus Reviews

"This would be a perfect 'just in time' book to use with a young child to help explain the confusion of separation and divorce...The beautiful and engaging colour illustrations lend a storybook quality to the book that helps with its accessibility for younger kids."

Resource Links

"Cindy Revell's colourful illustrations capture the emotions that parents/caregivers and their children may feel...Why Do Families Change? is an excellent book to remind children that it's not their fault if their parents decide to separate or divorce and that they are still part of a family...and that the one thing that remains constant is the love that their family has for them. Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"A useful tool for explaining to children that the world is different, but not worse, when their parents separate."

BarTalk, BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association

"Children will feel understood and less alone when they realise they're not the only ones with these questions. And they will appreciate the simple, honest answers and their reassuring tone…Why Do Families Change? takes a complicated topic that's difficult to talk about, and breaks it down into simple, matter of fact answers. Its reassuring tone is helpful to both children and parents."

Butterfly Books blog

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