Mum and Dad Glue

Product Information

Divorce is an unhappy fact that affects many children's lives; parents who are divorcing will value this story that can be read to their children, its message one of comfort to help soothe and make them aware that their parents' separation is in no way their fault. I also /loved/ the artistic concept that all the things around the child on each page were broken too.

Although I think this story focused on parent separation in a nice way, I did feel like the ending was a bit abrupt. The little boy then learns that is in fact okay that his parents have split and that it is not his fault nor will his parents love for him change. He goes on a hunt to try and find some glue to stick them back together but then realises that you cant find glue for the heart. It would be a great recommendation to send home, or to read in a smaller, comfortable group, so that children feel they can ask questions, share their response and feelings and talk through these in a trusting environment. 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.

I think that is a great way to help children see the metaphor of how sometimes when things are going wrong for us, the whole world can seem broken. 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. Kids who suddenly see their parents fall out, they see them sad, angry, sometimes there are arguments. Though it may be useful for directing children's thoughts towards the idea that lots of parents separate and that they can be just as happy with separated parents, I would worry that the book may make a child think that their feelings are wrong or that they have to feel a certain way.

Mum and Dad Glue” is an exceptionally well written and beautifully illustrated picture book by the absolutely fantastic Kes Gray. It's not really a book that young children who aren't going through divorcing parents would want to read - it'd ask more questions than it asks. A powerful poem which follows a boy who’s parents are getting divorced and feels like he is to blame and struggling to come to terms with it. 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.This book is written as a poem and tells the story of a little boy whos parents are getting divorced. 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. Der kleine Junge in diesem Buch hat ein großes Problem: Seine Eltern sind nicht mehr heile, sie wollen sich trennen und daher braucht er dringend Elternkleber aus dem Bastelladen.

The illustrations were very detailed and used warm toned colours which was quite effective in making me feel comforted whilst reading it. By telling the story from the perspective of a child, the story creates a sense of longing in the reader and allows them to be swept up in the narrative as if they were in the text themselves. This book would be a good one to use if a child in your class was experiencing family issues in relation to their parents splitting up as it explains how to view the situation more positively instead of feeing down about it. Mum and Dad Glue by Kes Gray, illustrated by the winner of the Red House Children's Book Award 2013.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). The characters have a rough charm that really draws you in - there are hints of Quentin Blake's ink drawings, but Wildish's style is very much of its own.

Wonderful job on showing how a divorce will feel for a kid, like his world, like his everything is also broken apart. In the second half of the book, where the main character realizes that it is ok and that hearts cannot be put back together with glue the images are no longer broken. The moral of this story is that it is not anyones fault his parents have fallen out of love with each other, and it doesn't mean they have fallen any less out of love with him. Essentially, the little boy, who is trying to use an inanimate tool, to fix a very real, tangible problem, comes to find that some things in life you cannot fix. I really enjoyed this book as it follows the tale of a little boy who’s parents have/ are in the process of getting a divorce.I genuinely believe that this book is something that will bring comfort to those that could be going through this. Beautiful book from a child’s perspective of handling divorce- really makes you think about how a child may see a divorce of parents. This was a beautiful, a bit humorous, but also sad book about a boy and his parents who are going to separate. It is something I have seen happening in other books about divorce, and it always breaks my heart and makes me tear up.