This is the first of four book reviews that will be published in four consecutive weeks, this one on Cordero’s That's Just The way It Is, and the next three on Brownstone’s Tug of War, Meeker’s Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, and Lang and Lankford-Moran’s Why a Daughter Needs a Dad.Author Bobbie Cordero has been a school teacher for over 48 years, and through her professional experience she got familiar with the struggles of children of divorced parents. She just published a children book titled That's Just The way It Is (Eloquent Books NY NY), precisely on the subject of the relationship between divorced parents and their children. After doing research on the issue, Cordero discovered there were almost no children books on divorce and custody issues viewed from a child’s perspective, and decided to write this little book to fill that void.
This story is told with the fresh and simple style of a five year old little girl and describes the strong bond that exists between a little girl and her divorced dad. Due to that situation, the girl has to live in two separate homes with her divorced parents. When she asks her dad why she has to live her life that way, he replies "That's Just the Way It Is." Through the book the little girl learns to accept that the way she lives her life is just another, different but valid, way of living.
This story is designed to show that in post-divorce situations, both parents usually love their children equally, and that in particular the father's impact on his children lives can remain constant and positive, raising them happy and healthy.
An easy-to-read book which can be enjoyed by kids as well as grown-ups, filled with bright, colorful illustrations, That’s Just the Way it Is helps children to learn to deal with divorce, and that living in separate homes can be okay after all. So, for us divorced parents, or for those who know children of divorced parents, this book would make an excellent present, fun and helpful. To people like me, who fight for the cause of joint custody, finding a book that starts with the idea that the children of divorced parents will live in the two houses of their parents, this book is a sweet relief. We need more children books like this.
I am very pleased to see that this relationship is being introduced in such a gentle way for children. It has been an issue for multiple generations now and yet our children are still being forced to process it at a grown up level. Many parents went through divorce as children and are trying to drawl on their own experiences to help their children through it as gently as possible. It is inspiring to have positive, sensitive tools to help us ease the strain on our children. Ways to help our children know that they are not the cause and that they are loved and safe are a much needed commodity. Thank you to those with a gift to share so that we can be better parents in an already tough circumstance. I look forward to more like it.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your comment. My BA is in Spanish, and literature is one of my true passions. I have learned the power of well narrated stories to transform the way people think and the way people approach difficult situations in their lives. Children literature does for the kids that hear the stories and for the parents who read them. There is a great book titled Influencer by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan & Switzler, and in one of its chapters there is discussion about how soap operas has been used in Mexico to promote social changes.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your encouraging words. Please stay in contact. In this struggle for our kids, networking with people sympathetic to our cause is crucial.
ReplyDeleteI went to your blog and it is beautiful. We architects are extremely fond to visual arts, so a blog like yours is the kind of blog that we would visit just for the pleasure of it.