[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was received.]
A Brand New Day is an uplifting and beautifully illustrated story about a little girl’s life with her parents after the divorce. It does a marvelous job of reminding us all that a parent’s marital status has nothing to do with how much they love their children.
Title: A Brand New Day: A Banana Split Story
Author: A. S. Chung
Illustrator: Paula Bossio
Pigeonhole Books, July 2014, Fiction. ISBN: 978-0992538200
Suitable For Ages: 3 – 8+
Themes/Topics:
Family, Divorce, Parents
Opening:
“I love Mondays and Tuesdays when I get to stay with my Dad. I get to help make dinner with recipes from his notepad.”
Brief Synopsis:
A little girl tells us, in verse, about what her life is like on the alternating days that she spends with her mother and father.
Links To Resources:
- National Association of School Psychologists Recommendations for Helping Parents and Children Going through Divorce.
- UptoParents.org — “A free, confidential, and interactive website
for divorcing and divorced parents.” - Parents.com – “11 Rules for Helping Your Child Deal With Divorce”
Why I Like A Brand New Day: A Banana Split Story and Why You Should Read It:
- It’s a positive story. It focuses on all the wonderful things that the little girl gets to do with her mother and father.
- This is a wonderful book for parents to read with their children. A lot of parents have a tremendous amount of guilt for going through a divorce — but this story affirms that things really will be okay.
- Families come in all shapes and sizes. This is a marvelous representation that a child is still a whole person even if their parents are not married. While this may be obvious, it is important to see it from an outside source.
- It is so nice to see a book that shows life after divorce with people being happy — because it is so true!
- The delicate monochromatic illustrations with highlights of pink set a contented and playful tone.
- It’s a happy account of getting to spend one-on-one time with your mother or father.
- The story doesn’t specifically mention that the parents are divorced — so it could happily apply to any family where the parents of the child do not live together.
- My eldest son knows that my parents are divorced and this book gave us an opportunity to talk about what it was like for me as a child to go back and forth between parents.
- My son asked me if my husband and I would ever get a divorce — and while I certainly hope not — I did appreciate the opportunity to reassure him that if we did get a divorce we would all get through it, and we both would still love him, and his brother, very much.
- It is so nice to see a divorced family represented in a positive way. I wish this book had been around when I was a child — it definitely would have helped to put things in perspective — not just for me, but for those around me, too.
Where to Get it:
- [Affiliate Link] Amazon.com
- [Library] Worldcat.org – Ask your library for it.
- [Independent Bookstore] IndieBound.org
- [eBook version] Kobo
Author/Illustrator Websites:
- Author: A. S. Chung
- Illustrator: Paula Bossio
More Reviews of this Book:
-
Children’s Illustrated eBook Review — A great interview with the author, A.S. Chung.
Where Obtained: I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links and others are IndieBound affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase something, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Which goes to fund my family’s picture book habit. It’s a vicious cycle, but we manage. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Thanks for high-lighting a book that touches on an important issue.
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It’s my pleasure! Thank you so much for stopping by! Also, thank you for your PPBF recommendation of Wall. It looks amazing.
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What an uplifting story. Thank you!
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It is my pleasure. It is so nice to read a picture book that shows divorce in a better, more realistic, light.
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As a child of divorced parents, a book like this is definitely reassuring that you are loved by mom and dad even if they don’t live together anymore. I remember my mom gave me a care bears book speaking about divorce, and I read it a lot. I was seven.
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I didn’t realize that the Care Bears had a book about divorce, too. I’m glad you had a book that you were able to read that talked about it. I wonder if it is still in print? This is the first picture book I’ve read about divorce and I’m very happy to see how it is portrayed.
Thank you so much for stopping by! I really appreciate it.
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Tiffa, I’m glad A Brand New Day was your first picture book about divorce. Your support is much appreciated!
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I didn’t realise that Care Bears did a book about divorce! Wonder if I can get my hands on that some how.
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So I did a little research… I know that I had Care Bear books, they were hardcover and very nice. I can’t seem to find any specifically on divorce. It may have been “A Friend for Frances” because I was moving and had to make new friends. But I think that “Daddy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” looks really familiar. I put the links below. The important thing was that there were two books that I remember reading to myself to help me through my parent’s divorce.
http://www.amazon.com/Friend-Frances-Tale-Care-Bears/dp/0910313040/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0VTM1RX2VRDQV94V6KVA
http://www.amazon.com/Daddy-Doesnt-Live-Here-Anymore/dp/0307124800/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425251690&sr=1-1&keywords=daddy+doesn%27t+live+here+anymore
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I’ve added it to my wish list. The illustrations are adorable.
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I like Paula Bossio’s style. I spent some time on her website and I look forward to seeing more of her work!
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Isn’t she amazing? We are working one our next book! Story for children in same sex families entitled Wishful Wedding.
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She is incredibly talented. She has an incredible ability to translate my words into art. She will be pleased you think so!
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Tiffa, thank you so much for this wonderful review. This book is so close to my heart and it always bring me so much happiness to know that it may make a difference. I am glad that it opened up the opportunity for a conversation with you son and I am warmed by the thought that you feel it may have helped you when you were going through this yourself. Thank you again!
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Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book! I appreciate it! I look forward to seeing what other books Pigeonhole Books publishes! You are elegantly and positively fulfilling an important need in picture books for children and their parents!
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Tiffa, this book cover looks so joyous, I was immediately drawn to it. I’m all for a book that depicts this because my husband and I were divorced when my son was young and as things turned out through the years, his wife is one of the dearest people in my life. So, yes, divorce can work! I’ll never forget when he was in grammar school and his teacher suggested he be a part of a group that was for kids with divorced parents. I figured she was right. After two meetings he asked if he could quit. He said it was all kids that had horrible times due to their parents divorcing and he didn’t fit in! You bet I took him out of that!
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Well done! I think incredibly mature parents to ensure their child is loved no matter what. Divorce is hard. I hope my daughter will come out ok in the end and be a well adjusted and lived child:)
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It’s all about the parents not undermining each other for any reason AND keeping the reasons for divorce out of their relationship when it comes to the children. It’s only selfish parents who put their own emotions first (in respect to their former spouse) that the kids suffer. Every situation is different, but if the two parents (and their new spouses/partners) can agree on what’s important and how to handle things, it’s better for everyone, not just the child.
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I couldn’t agree more. As divorced adults, we are responsible for causing the child to be such a tumultuous situation in the first place. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure their new life is filled with love and security. I hope my ex-husband and I are doing just that for our daughter and that she won’t be too affected in the ling run.
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That’s smart of you to listen, evaluate, and then based on your son’s feedback take him out.
Looking back, my parents were fairly immature about their divorce. They were pretty young, and they did their best, but I wish they had had this book to see that the world was not ending and that things would be just fine. They were so worried about how I would turn out — and truthfully, my life has actually been better for it.
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…which makes me happy for YOU 🙂
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Well Tiffa, not everyone turns out that way so credit to you for who you are today:) If anything I suppose, you love your two sons they way you would have wanted to when you were growing up.
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The illustrations look gorgeous! I love the simplicity of it. I will definitely check this one out.
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I love them and they compliment the text so well!
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What a positive story for children dealing with separation/divorce. I love the sparse text and illustrations!
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I’m certainly a fan of it! I love how this book doesn’t over explain anything — it simply presents a sweet offering of enjoying time with your mom or dad one-on-one. It’s lovely!
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Looks like great treatment of an important childhood concern. I also think the black and muted red illustrations very interesting. Nice selection!
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What a wonderful book! I’m so glad to be able to add it to our list because, surprisingly, we really don’t have many books that deal with the issue of divorce and it’s one that so many children have to deal with. Thank you so much for sharing this one!
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Reblogged this on Pigeonhole Books and commented:
A Brand New Day, children’s picture book about divorce receives a beautiful review from The Picture Book Review!
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