Dinosaurs Divorce

A reassuring look at what to expect before and after divorce. Using the familiar dinosaur motif, the authors look at their subject from a child's eye view, glancing at such things as family counseling and financial changes, but focusing on emotional stress and ways to deal with it, learning to accept new family members and adjusting to new living arrangements. Advice is simply given ("If parents want you to carry messages back and forth, ask them to do it themselves"), and the illustrations keep the tone light while developing ideas presented in the text. Readers are urged toward an active role ("There is plenty you can do to help yourself feel better"), and encouraged to allow for erratic adult behavior ("Remember, divorce is new for your parents too. . ."). This sympathetic but not self-indulgent treatment might help make hard times easier to bear. (Kirkus Reviews)