The Incredible Shrinking Girl: A Divorce Story

One morning, Penny wakes to find that everything is enormous and unreachable. Taking the bewildering transformation in stride, she dons her doll’s clothes and heads to school. The narrator is quick to draw a line to the explanation: her parents’ fighting and recent divorce has made her feel minuscule and at times unseen. The author, a clinical psychologist specializing in divorce, writes from a place of clear experience, and her wisdom is manifest in Penny’s teacher, Mrs. Bennett, who provides a safe space for the child to unpack her many pent-up feelings—and bring herself back up to size. The spare, digital illustrations offer space for the reader’s own emotions to play out. The story’s message is overt and reassuring: there is transformative power in voicing one’s experience. Back matter includes a note to parents and helpful starter questions for conversations about divorce. Ages 4–8. (May)