There are children’s books that explain nature, diversity and even how babies are made. A recent book, however, helps a child understand what happens and what to expect when a parent or family member goes to jail.
Using rabbits as its primary characters,‘The Night Dad Went to Jail; What to Expect When Someone You Love Goes to Jail’ illustrates a young boy, Sketch, whose father is arrested at their home and sentenced to six years in jail. Narrated by the young rabbit, the book takes readers through Sketch’s emotions of being scared when the police initially arrive to showing anger towards his father because they can’t spend time together the way they used to.
Footnotes throughout the book offer definitions of technical terms and further explain why a child might feel the way they do in reaction to their loved one going to jail. It provides relatable emotions to a new situation to help children understand that what they’re feeling is normal and that others may experience the same.
One reader responded by stating, “I was pleased to see that this book has child-friendly drawings that my son was able to enjoy. I like how it explains the process in simple ways that a child would understand and it has been very helpful with my son in our current situation. Very useful and colorful.”
Read the entire article on the Daily Mail and check out another one of Melissa Higgins’ books, “Weekends with Dad: What to Expect When Your Parents Divorce on Amazon.

After seeing how broken those children (now adults) of an incarcerated father were on Iyanla fix my life, I am for any resource that can help kids deal with this type of situation.
This seems like a great book (although i have not actually read it). Unfortunately I think there is definitely a need for it. It would have been extremely helpful in my family for my then 5 year old son who was very close with his father when he “went away”. It’s a very hard situation to explain to a young child and even harder for them to grasp until much older. I applaud the author for stepping out of the norm and creating this book. Hopefully parents and/or caregivers of these children who are left with so many questions and emotions will utilize this tool along with lots of love, support and guidance to help their child prosper.