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About The Book

The Banana Splits: Helping Children Cope with Divorce

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It’s been said that the only thing more difficult for a child to undergo than divorce is the death of a parent. Obviously, it’s extremely hard on the parents also.

Research shows several potential adverse effects for these children. For example, poor academic performance and possible social, emotional, or behavioral issues.

The good news is certainly these issues don’t apply to all children and, if the divorce/separation is handled as well as possible by the parents there may very well be no negative results.

The overriding thought of parents should be “child first” when making any decisions. Thinking of how this will affect your child before making major choices will help immensely.

There is a great deal of information available with good advice on how to handle a very difficult situation. This book describes a program offered by the school district in which I was the school counselor. At the end of this book there is advice for parents going through this situation. Our Banana Splits group over the years helped countless parents and their children get through a difficult time.

Remember, the best parent is both parents.

Banana Splits 750

The story behind the book The Banana Splits

As stated on the back cover, divorce, if mishandled, can be devastating for the child or children involved. The support group outlined in this book was offered by myself and a fellow counselor at our school, usually in the fall and in the spring. It was extremely effective. We would read a chapter or two from Dinosaurs Divorce then discuss it and complete some activities.

The parents were always invited for the last meeting by a letter sent home. There were times when we had both parents present (the ideal situation) at times one, or sometimes neither parent was able to make it. Invariably the students were sad to come to the end of the group. At times we even had repeaters involved. The parents many times would reveal to us how helpful they thought the program had been for their children, and also for themselves.

In the back of the book is helpful advice for how to tell children about the divorce and much more.

The Guidance Series

Solutions to Specific Childhood Problems

Books in “The Guidance Series” are meant to be read to children by parents, caretakers, school counselors or teachers. After the reading there would hopefully then be a discussion of what the book was about and what should be learned from the story.

The books in this series fall into two categories – problem solving or problem prevention:

  • The problem solving generally deal with a specific issue [divorce, stealing ,sleep issues, etc.]
  • The problem prevention stories are meant to be more educational in nature and teach skills used to avoid problems in the first place [personal space, bully proofing, making and keeping friends, etc.]

All the books in this series are about real issues I was involved in helping elevate or social skills I taught my students as their school counselor.

During my career I had many books I would read to my students to help teach them important lessons about such things as manners, responsibility, etc.. I had a small library in my office for that purpose and I also used that to loan parents and teachers books on various topics to read to their students or children. 

I would suggest to my fellow elementary school counselors adding the books in this series to their personal or school library. You never know when one of them might come in handy and, compared to many books I purchased , they are not very expensive.

The Banana Splits

Helping Children Cope with Divorce

Divorce, if mishandled, can be devastating for the child or children involved. The support group outlined in this book was offered by myself and a fellow counselor at our school.

Mrs. Williams Dilemma

A Book About Stealing

This book describes a situation in which a child is stealing in school. As an elementary school counselor, I dealt with this issue numerous times.

Joseph, Froggy, and Mrs. Slattery

Selective mutism is a difficult problem to overcome. But, with the student described in this book, we were successful—no easy task with this condition.

The Bubble Brigade

Teaching Children the Concept of Personal Space and How to Protect Themselves

This book explains the concept of personal space and the skill of self-protection, “bully-proofing,” in an easy way for children to understand.

Four Friends

A Book about Making and Keeping Friends

Some children seem to make friends easily while others struggle. Children can be taught friendship making skills as well as conflict resolution.

The Dream Box

The story of a second-grade girl who is having sleep issues. The technique illustrated in this book was used successfully numerous times by the author in dealing with students with the same problem.

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