Thursday, July 3, 2014

Sad, But Realistic

Cover art copyright Abdo & Daughters, 1993
Breakfast for Dinner
Part of the Children of Courage series
By Cynthia DiLaura Devore, M.D.
Published by Abdo and Daughters
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1993

Reviewed by Laura Harting






    This book for the elementary school aged child is realistically illustrated and shares a day in the life of a young girl. Meg’s father left the night before and the book starts with Meg waking up the next morning facing her first day without her father.
    Meg has an awful day as she tries to block out the reality of her parents’ separation and ends her day on her mother’s lap having a heart-to-heart talk about feelings and divorce.
    This book is sad. I felt sad reading it. Kids often feel sad when their parents split and in that way this book seems very realistic. This would be a good book to read with a child who is sad and who needs to be comforted. The book might help the child to open up and talk about the sadness.

Laura Harting, LCSW, is a child and family therapist with a practice in Paoli, Pennsylvania.

2 comments:

  1. This is a thoughtful review on a very thoughtful website. I appreciate the idea that this is a story that may be read to a child who is sad and in need of comfort. Yay for books that can do that!
    Great job!
    Jane

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  2. Thank you for your comment. While doing some research on the web recently, I stumbled across the name of the author of this book, Cynthia DiLaura Devore, in connection with a continuing education activity for pediatricians. (I always take special note of pediatrics and pediatricians, because that was my father's specialty before he joined the US Public Health Service.) It turns out Dr. Devore is quite highly placed within the American Academy of Pediatrics, having just served as chair of the academy's Council on School Health. What's more, she has dedicated her career to school health in central and western New York -- which is where we lived for 19 years and raised our children. Small world.

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