Mum and Dad Glue

Product Information

It is something I have seen happening in other books about divorce, and it always breaks my heart and makes me tear up.

It softly and gently addresses what can be such a difficult subject with lighthearted illustrations and rhyming poetry. His parents have come undone and he wants to mend their marriage, stick their smiles back on and make them better. This rhyming story is brilliantly told with a powerful message that even though his parents may be broken, their love for him is not. Divorce is a tricky time for children, and the message is always the same: it's not you and mum and dad will always love you.

It is really heartwarming at the end, to see him realise that he still means the world to his parents and that he will always be loved by them; despite them no longer being together. The love a parent has for a child is unconditional; Complete and absolute, and not dependent on any terms or conditions. Mum and Dad Glue” is an exceptionally well written and beautifully illustrated picture book by the absolutely fantastic Kes Gray. The illustrations in this book were also effective as they showed everything broken in half throughout the first half of the book where the main characters aim is to get his parents some glue to get back together. By creating this sense of emotion the book is ideal to create and sustain a dialogue with the child and also provides the child with the feelings that this is okay, and it is okay to question the events that are happening around them.

It is about a little boy who is trying to cope with his parent separating but because his world is torn apart, its hard for him to do. It might be an obvious metaphor, but it perfectly captures the feelings that children might be having, without being melodramatic or scary. Told from the perspective of the boy allows the reader to step into his shoes and experience the emotions he is feeling and empathise with him. Most of the time it is not the fault of the kid, most of the time parents just lose their love, or find a new love, or some other reason.The boy wonders if he is the reason why his parents no longer kiss and cuddle, but they reassure him that he’s not to blame. Every Second Friday by Kiri Lightfoot and Ben Galbraith is another message book about divorce, this time dealing with children getting used to having two different homes. Separation is incredibly common amongst parents so this book will be good to use in classrooms to explore it and develop an understanding of it.

Gray did not want to give false hope to any child that could be experiencing the demise of their parents’ marriage - this would be unethical, and could be potentially damaging to a child's emotional state (especially, for example, if Gray wrote a story where the parent's got back together, and everything mapped out harmoniously, because that could create a distorted, misleading expectation in a child's mind). If you are concerned about the health and wellbeing of yourself or children in your care, you should always consult an appropriate healthcare professional.On its own terms, it's an ideal book, but it's not a picture book for general reading - not that it aims to be.