An inspiring story of family and love that will hopefully help children who are dealing with social marginalisation talk about their feelings and experiences.
Feature image credit: Magabala Books
My Dad’s Gone Away is a beautiful, poignant book for a small, but unfortunately growing group of children and their families. According to the Notes to the Reader at the end of the book, it is estimated that there are 75,600 children with an incarcerated parent. A hugely disproportionate number are children from First Nations families. Unfortunately, the children of these people are the ones who have to live with the continuing effect it has on their lives.
My Dad’s Gone Away is trying to give children and their families permission to talk — about their parents and their feelings, and to each other. It acknowledges in the foreword the stigma these children have to live with, plus financial stress and anxiety. It affects their wellbeing, behaviour, self-value, holistic health and academic outcomes.
This is the story of a little girl called Tarah, who is wondering why her dad is no longer around. Her mum eventually tells her that he has gone to prison and had no time to say goodbye. They go to visit him in prison: a very scary experience for any young child. On the way, her mum is able to explain what her life will look like for a while. While visiting her dad, Tarah meets a boy who also has a parent in prison and together they learn how to make things a little easier.
The illustrations by Paul Seden are his typical muted pencil drawings which seem very appropriate for this story. He has added the occasional bit of colour to both Tarah and those people and things that are important to her. Some of the “feeling” words are large and in colour. This will help with family discussions.
The authors are both speaking from lived experience. Krakouer, an Australian Rules Footballer, has himself been to prison and his partner’s father was also incarcerated when she was a child. Dinan was a foster carer who provided respite for these children.
While My Dad’s Gone Away will not be suitable for every child, it certainly has a very important place for many children in our society. It gives them permission to talk, ask questions, and not be ashamed of their circumstances. It could also be a really good discussion starter for teachers who have children in their class dealing with family incarceration, or a general discussion about our society and how we deal with those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, or those who are marginalised for whatever reason. It may make you wonder why nobody has thought to write a book like this before.
It would be an excellent idea if the government or another organisation made this book freely available to those who are dealing with the incarceration of a family member.
Reviewed by Sue Mauger
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Magabala Books
Released: October 2024
RRP: $27.99
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