Dinosaurs Divorce:
A Guide to Understanding Death

by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown

Children's book review by Steve Barancik

A children's book about divorce

Ages 4-8

Go figure: husband-wife team Marc and Laurie Krasny Brown (not divorced) are the authors of this wonderful A-Z book explaining divorce to young children. Marc is the author of the Arthur books, and together with Laurie they produce the very respected Dino Tales series (subtitled Life Guides for Families).

The Browns have a deft touch when it comes to dealing with tough subjects. (Their When Dinosaurs Die is also reviewed on this site.)

Their simple, homespun, kind-hearted wisdom is actually the result of careful research; a lawyer, a pediatrician, a child psychiatrist, an adult psychiatrist, and a clinical social worker all receive consultant credit in the Acknowledgments.

And the Table of Contents (yes, there's a Table of Contents) tells you just how wide-ranging their coverage of the subject of divorce is:

• Divorce Words and What They Mean
• Why Parents Divorce
• What About You?
• After the Divorce
• Living with One Parent
• Visiting Your Parent
• Having Two Homes
• Celebrating Holidays and Special Occasions
• Telling Your Friends
• Meeting Parents' New Friends
• Living with Stepparents
• Having Stepsisters and Stepbrothers

Of course, the dinosaurs in Dinosaurs Divorce are really just green-complexioned people, and their highs and lows are sure to resonate for children experiencing a family split.

The Dino Tales books are all non-fiction - i.e. they aren't just stories about one child - so the Browns are free to speak to all sorts of situations, making this a book for all children of divorce. And something else...

Just an opinion, but this is a book every divorced parent could stand to read on their own too. (Remember all those experts who contributed!) Good parental behavior is depicted, as well as some not-so-good, and the book has much to teach about healthy boundaries and your child's needs during a time of upheaval.

The Browns are rather magical when it comes to explicating someone else's point of view, so their books are always a wonderful study in empathy. Dinosaurs Divorce is a book you'll want on a convenient shelf and that both you and your kids should find yourself going back to again and again. The smiling faces on the cover say it all: Divorce is the end of a marriage, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world.

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