Author Guest Post: “Reading and Writing About Family Dynamics” by Jeanine DeHoney, Author of This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church

“Reading and Writing About Family Dynamics”

When I taught kindergarteners in an early learning center many years ago, I loved the fact that in all of our classrooms there were curated picture book selections in our reading area that highlighted family dynamics.

I enjoyed reading classic children’s stories such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaolo, Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema, among others as my young students sat on what we called our magic reading carpet. But I always felt the need to read stories in which they could hear narratives and see realistic images of families whose stories and family make-up were similar to their own.

Some of my student’s familial makeup included being in a single parent household, blended family, foster or adoptive family, or being raised by grandparents or other family members due to a parent not being able to. There were also families who were unhoused and living in a shelter. Often that affected how each student dealt with their emotions, concerns, fears, hurt, anger, or stress.

It was important for me to find and read books to students that touched on not only the conflicts in a family, where all of the young character’s heartfelt feelings were seen and heard in all of its bluest hues, but at the close of the book gifted the young reader with hope and a resolution however complicated or nontraditional their family dynamics are.

When I began seriously pursuing writing children’s picture books, I wanted to write books that touched on family dynamics and helped children navigate the myriads of feelings they often experienced when they perceived that their family wasn’t like their friend’s families or there were fractures in their families or trauma or anxieties. I wanted to write picture books that convey to children that they are seen and heard and their truths matter and their uncomfortable questions deserve an answer. No child should ever feel as if they have to shove their feelings in a box and put it on some high unreachable shelf.

My children’s picture book, This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church, part of Sleeping Bear Press’s Own Voices Own Stories collection, deals with the family dynamic of how others experience faith in the same household. The themes for this picture book are spiritual diversity, acceptance and family bonds.

This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church, is narrated by its young character Omar, who poses a question to his mother about why his father doesn’t attend church on Sunday with them. Omar’s mother lovingly explains that although they enjoy going to church that his father worships in his own way, in how he serves others and how he quietly spends time with God at home on Sunday morning.

This story was written because of my own family dynamics as a little girl with my father. He too didn’t attend church with my mother, sister, but was still a faith filled man and husband and father. Always under foot my father as a little girl, I never wanted others to be judgmental about him not attending church with us and to accept his choice as I eventually did. In my picture book though, I do end it with Omar’s father surprising him and attending church, but Omar also acknowledges that even if his father doesn’t attend church the next Sunday, he knows his father worships in his own way.

Our families shape us, be they our biological or chosen families. There are beliefs and traditions and expectations of the other each family member has. It is beautiful and empowering when those expectations are meant in a young child’s life, but when they aren’t meant it can cause several problems that play out not only at home but in an educational setting I have seen.

I hope that all libraries whether at home or school always have a liberal sprinkling of books for children that deal with family dynamics, both the inspiring ones, the amusing, heartwarming ones, but also the complicated and unhappy ones. Especially books that display how family members show empathy, have open, nonjudgemental discussions, resolve conflicts, seek support, and quell fears, in a healthy and reassuring way.

It is my hope that no matter the structure of a family, children can pick up a picture book that resonates with them and what their family looks like, its strengths and weaknesses, sorrows and joys.  A book that makes them feel seen and heard, not alone, and optimistic about the days ahead individually and as a family.

This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church
Author: Jeanine DeHoney
Illustrator: Robert Paul, Jr.
Published August 1st, 2025 by Sleeping Bear Press

About the Book: A sweet story about accepting the different ways we all worship.

Omar loves going to church every Sunday with his mother. He loves putting on his best clothes, and meeting up with neighbors and his best friend, Imani, as they walk together to services. But his daddy doesn’t join them. “Some Sundays are meant for doing much of nothing or a little bit of something,” says his father. Or maybe the lawn needs mowing or a ballgame needs watching. Omar’s mother doesn’t get upset. Each Sunday she reminds Daddy that his suit is in the closet if he would like to attend church. But he never does and Omar wonders why. It bothers him that his father doesn’t join them at this special place.

When Omar asks his mother about it, she talks to him about faith and belief. There are different ways to worship, and they don’t have to take place in a building. But even with Mommy’s reassurances, Omar still wishes his father would join them.

This new entry in Sleeping Bear Press’s Own Voices, Own Stories collection celebrates the bonds of family. An honor winner in the Own Voices, Own Stories collection.

About the Author: Jeanine DeHoney has always been a dreamer. At the age of seven she dreamed of becoming a writer, and after her stories landed in the pages of tons of notebooks, she’s grateful they’ve now landed in the pages of magazines, both mainstream and literary, online, and anthologies such as Chicken Soup for The Soul. Her children’s stories have also been published in Skipping Stones, Devozine, and Australia’s The School Magazine. Jeanine has won or has been shortlisted in several literary contests and was the 2022 Honor Award Winner for Sleeping Bear Press’s Own Voices, Own Stories Award. A former art enrichment teacher and Family Services Coordinator at a preschool learning center in the Brooklyn neighborhood where she grew up, she now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and looks forward to being the dream keepers of both young and old, with her stories.

Thank you, Jeanine, for this focus on families and everyone’s looks different and all deserve to see their family reflected in books!