Children’s Book about Divorce: This Love is Forever

Mavis Cohen sent me a copy of her children’s book about divorce called This Love is Forever for review.  Opinions are my (daughter’s) own. Mavis Prall Cohen wrote This Love is Forever when her daughter Lizzie was three years old and asked, “Why are we divorced?” Mavis wanted to give Lizzie an answer she could understand, and that would also reassure her she would always be loved. As a child of divorce herself, Mavis felt she knew what Lizzie needed to hear, and Mavis wanted to create lasting messages that Lizzie could revisit as often as she liked. Mavis also found that the positive messages helped her, as a mom, stay focused on what matters most during times of turmoil: her child’s well-being.

The illustrations in this book were done by Lizzie Prall- who was one year old in 2000 when her parents split up, and at age three began asking her mother why the split had happened. Lizzie took comfort in the words her mother wrote for her, and years later when Mavis asked her to illustrate the book so that other families could benefit from its message, Lizzie agreed. Lizzie does not consider herself an expert artist, but the drawings are her vision of the words on the page. She is hoping this book will help other kids like her whose parents go through divorce.

This is what my turning-8-year-old-today has to say about this book:

So it explains about divorce and how some families stay together forever and some families get divorced.  But the most important thing about the book is that both the mom and the dad who got divorced both love the kid.  It’s lucky she has two houses but it’s not lucky her parents live apart. My friend has her dad in another town and her mom lives in our town and I think she should read this book so she knows other families are divorced too.  Once your parents are apart there’s nothing that can put them back together again and they can’t get fixed.  It has nothing to do with the child or children.  She doesn’t get to see her mom all the time since the divorce, and she can’t see her dad all the time.

My daughter’s favorite page and illustration, as well as mine, is the one pictured below- we both love the message the image sends, but also the verbiage on the page.  Talking about the best part of the marriage not only being present inside the child, but also how both parents still love that part of the marriage so much.  It really just embodies the message Ms. Cohen was trying to convey, in my opinion.

If you or someone you love is going through a divorce, I absolutely recommend that you share this book with them. It’s simple, it’s sweet, but it also conveys a message that I think children living through a divorce need to hear and hear often: the divorce had nothing to do with the children, and the love the parents have for the children doesn’t change at all because of the divorce. This is my favorite children’s book about divorce I’ve seen.

This Love is Forever is available on Amazon.com.