Action for Prisoners' Families, the national federation
of services supporting families of prisoners, has published
a series of storybooks that explore the issues faced by
children with a prisoner in the family. As well as being
enjoyable reads, the books allow prisoners' children and
their families to explore complex and painful emotions by
providing characters they can relate to.
The books are already available in a number of prison libraries
and education departments as well as schools, libraries
and community centres. They can be ordered direct from Action
for Prisoners' Families.
Finding Dad, illustrated
by Korky Paul and written by Daniel Lee, is a paperback
book for older children. It tells the story of eight-year-old
James who turns detective to find out the truth about his
dad, who disappears with the police early one morning. James'
mum will only say that he has gone on a secret mission,
sending James off into his imaginary world as he tries to
track dad down. An audio version of the book, recorded by
writer and broadcaster Michael Palin, has now been released.
Age range: 8-11
Tommy's Dad, illustrated
by Nick Sharratt and written by Emma Randle-Caprez, is the
story of a young boy and his sister whose father is sent
to prison. It explores their feelings of loss, anger and
frustration at not being told what's going on, until their
mother finally decides to take them to see their dad. Age
range: 4-7
Danny's Mum is a story
about Danny, whose mother is sent to prison. At first he
is confused and sad, but eventually through talking to his
friends at school, and with support from others, Danny begins
to talk about his mum and look forward to her return. Age
range: 3-6
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