This excellent book for children has sections (5 chapters each) about preparing to move; moving; exploring the new culture; settling in; dealing with “the realities”; and moving on. In each chapter expat kids, ages 8-13, share their own experiences, then the author answers common questions & closes with a “Real Life Tip.” “The Kids’ Guide to Living Abroad” is relevant for elementary/primary students and above.
Kids and parents can read each chapter as it becomes relevant rather than all at once and sections can be skipped if they don’t apply. A lot of ground is covered!
A wonderful book for TCKs, it’s written from the perspective of Robert whose best friend, Peter, moves away. Robert is sulky and resists changes even though his friend has moved and seems to have moved on. Though at first Robert resists making a new friend, a letter from Peter helps him see he can make a new friend without forgetting the old. (Also a great book for little boys who love frogs.)
Read about when Peter returns to visit Robert in, “Best Friends, Together Again.”
“And I remember sitting on the steps in the sun and not talking at all. There is no one else I can sit with and not talk.”
In this melancholy picture book, a girl misses her best friend who moved away and remembers the fun times they had together. Janey is less a story than a lyrical description of memories of special times with a special friend, written from the perspective of a small child. This book about feeling lonesome for someone who is gone can help give voice to sad feelings young children struggle to express after being parted from a good friend. It emphasizes the feelings that go with memories of special times with a special friend.
Parents of children who, like this little girl, have said goodbye to a beloved friend, could use this book as a tool to encourage healthy grief by inviting their children to share their own feelings and name the things they miss about their departed friend.
TCKs say many goodbyes in their growing up years as most of them move back and forth between several places. Even if they stay in one place, the expat community around them is constantly moving and they say goodbye to friends all the time. In these interviews, TCKs reflect on what they miss most about the places they have left and how all the goodbyes have affected them. They were asked:
How do you handle goodbyes?
Where are your best friends and when did you last see them?
Besides people, what do you miss most?
Have goodbyes affected your ability to make commitments?
