PARENTS HERE AND THERE

Separation from a parent is difficult. This photographic guide uses short text and familiar vocabulary to explain deployment.

The book speaks directly to child readers, acknowledging their feelings and letting them know their feelings are OK. It reassures them that friends and family will be around to help, and they will be able to send pictures, write letters, and talk to their parent on the phone or even video chat. It gives them ideas on how to count the days until their parent is home and even to think about how they will welcome the parent home: making a welcome-home banner or fixing their parent’s favorite food. The pages feature bright photographs of diverse families; these include both military moms and dads and display the full range of emotions involved during this difficult time. One especially touching photo shows a mom whose face is tight with emotion bidding goodbye to a weeping child, critically emphasizing that deployment is hard on everybody involved. Also critical is straightforward text reassurance “that your parent loves you and cares about you.” The book ends with the parent still deployed, assuring children that “the love you share keeps your hearts close.” Miller’s book is a welcome addition to this rarely published topic. Between 2001 and 2010, 1.75 million children in the U.S. had at least one parent in the military, yet books about deployment of a parent or loved one are difficult to find.

Essential reading for many, many families.