Books depicting positive Single Parent families

[cedricdoris1]

Anyone out there recommend any stories which present a positive view of single parent families? So many books are two parent family based. Many thanks.

harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs - afaik they live with his grandparents.

daisy and the trouble with.... series of books... Her dad has passed away.

Mick Inkpens 'we are wearing out the naughty step'. The mum is driven up the wall by her dc's running riot and it ends with her new boyfriend meeting the family.

Harry has a mum and a nan. No obvious dad.

We are a single parent family and I can't think of many that fit the bill (Railway Children has a struggling mother but of course dad comes back in the end). We have a nice picture book though by Todd Parr - the Family Book - about different kinds of families which the DCs liked when they were little.

For what age group?

For what age group?

I love the Todd Parr books, we have quite a few of them. Eldest is 11.5 and youngest is 8 so looking for something a bit more than just picture books, if at all possible! Many thanks.

No boats on Bannermere set by Geoffrey Trease
Main characters have just a mum, dad disappeared off to America early in their life.

Many of the Lone Piners (Malcolm Saville) have single parents:
Peter (Petronella) lives very happily with her dad and doesn't remember her mum
Tom is an orphan who lives with his Uncle and Aunt
Jenny has a dad and a step mum, whom she doesn't really get on with
Jon lives with his mum, not sure if it mentions whether his dad died or left
Penny's parents are abroad and she lives with her cousin (Jon)
Harriet, you never meet her parents as she's always with her grandfather. You get the impression she isn't really very happy with her parents.

The Mortons (David, Dickie and Mary) are the only ones with "normal" parents!

Ds has loved both of these, but they are mostly out of print, although GGBP has redone them. They're worth getting.

Certainly some of the Jaqueline Wilson ones, also stepfather problems.
The Saturdays series - but they do have a housekeeper as well as the widower dad.

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl has a fabulous single dad. The mum has died.

Just Ferret is for 10/11 year olds and has a great single mum, if I remember correctly. By Gillian Cross, I think.

For your 8 y/o, in the Josie Smith books by Magdalen Nabb Josie's mum is on her own. (They're also good stories!)

For your 11.5 year old the heroine of A Dog Called Homeless has a single dad (though it's because her mum has died, so maybe not what you're looking for)

Preminstreltension if you have younger dc Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman is lovely, Grace lives with her mum & grandma

Brilliant, thanks for all the recommendations I will look at all of these.

Heidi goes to live with her Grandad.
In Swallows and Amazons, the Amazons' Dad is out of the frame. Swallows' Dad only features remotely.
The Children of Green Knowe - Tolly's parents have split up, if I remember rightly, and he goes to spend the school holidays with his great Grandmother.
Cider With Rosie (just Mum) for 11 yo

Roman Mysteries
The Wizard of Oz
The Sleeping Army

The InstaExplorer series by Millie Slavidou - an adventurous girl with a go-getter aunt living abroad and a cool travelling mum. No father is ever mentioned.

Pippi Longstocking

I would say nothing Jaqueline Wilson - she has single parents but it's all grim (everything I've read anyway), not positive.

It's an area where books are lacking, that's for sure - lots of positive books when it comes to gay parents etc, but not single parents, which is often a very close, positive relationship...

I sometimes use the Mixed Diversity Reads site though, which lists kids books under all sorts of topics, including single parents: diversekidsbooks.org/more-book-reviews/protagonists-with-single-parents/

Too many of these have single parents who are not really in the picture - children looked after by someone else or on their own.

Depends on the age of book you want but The Princess and the Peas and The Princess and the Presents by Caryl Hart are great picture books with Single dads in.

The Pea's Book series by Susie Day features a single mother with 3 children (and the children next door have gay parents so excellent series featuring diverse families)