My Mother's House, My Father's House

by C.B. Christiansen

Book Overview

A child describes having two different houses in which to live, my mother's house and my father's house, and what it is like to travel back and forth between them.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689313942
• ISBN13: 9780689313943
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Great for dealing with divorce

This book is about a child of divorced parents and how they deal with sharing the child. On certain days the child lives with the mother and on the other days lives with the father. The child dreams of someday living in her own house and not having any suitcases. Reading level is K-3. This book could be discussed in depth with children of these ages who are having to go through the same scenario. The book is 27 pages long with 9 of the pages just having pictures on them. Beautiful pictures embellish the story. I think it is just the right length for the subject. With 27 pages, 9 of them being pictures, the book is very appealing to this age group. It depicts the mother, father, and child being very happy with the situation they are dealing with. The developmental level of the book reaches the age group K-3 very well. With the subject matter showing the people coping with the situation well, it could have a very positive affect on the children of this age group. There are no diversity factors in this book. In fact, it is unrealistic to think that low income families could relate to the mother having a house and the father having a house, unless they are both professional people. I would use this book only in certain situations where the mother and father are both financially stable and are doing the things that are depicted in the book. Not many families are as fortunate to have a joint custody situation that is shown in this book. The child who is fortunate enough to have such a situation, but is still unhappy is when I would use this book. If they don't understand that this is not forever, they can see by the ending that eventually they will grow up and have their own house. I would point out how hard the parents try to give stability to the child by equally sharing time with him/her. Acceptance and love are the key elements. The parents share and get along because they love their child so much. Be careful using this book as an example if the divorced parents do not get along and do not wish to share the child. If an example like this is shown and the child's life is not going smoothly in this way, it could cause some grief.