The central themes underpinning all the reviewed blended family literature have centered around the development of tolerance for circumstances which are outside our control. These situations include an exploration of equality between parents, the normality of alternative families, and a recognition of the importance of loving relationships, regardless of their specific nature.
Tolerance
The theme of tolerance is evident throughout many blended family texts and is especially prominent within works which deal with divorce. Characters are depicted as initially hurt or resentful of a parent’s new partner. New partners are shown to take excessive amounts of room in the house, take attention away from children and behave in ways which unconsciously hurt the child. Through reflection, emotional growth and the passage of time, child protagonists are shown to gradually accept change and become happier as a result of their changed perspective.
The difficulties of shared parentage are likewise commonly depicted in blended family literature. Through an exploration of scenes and passages which show children dealing with issues like having two bedrooms, blended family texts seek to acknowledge adversity while suggesting that acceptance of the child’s new situation will ultimately lead to happiness. Texts aimed at younger children may make the adversity implicit in order to make the overall positive mood of the text more evident to younger readers.
Equality
Equality is one of the most universal themes inherent in blended family literature. Children’s picture books which deal with divorce are perhaps the best example of this theme. In order to appeal to parents and teach coping skills to children, these books usually make equality of parentage the most prominent value.
Often, picture books will explore the theme of tolerance through deliberate comparisons between two situations. Typically, one page will depict events associated with one parent, while events associated with a second parent are depicted on the alternative side. These books will typically adopt this motif throughout, dealing with one issue or situation at a time. Through placing these scenes consecutively, the idea of equality is implicitly conveyed.
The normality of alternative families
Acceptance of others is another theme that underpins blended literature. It is especially prominent within the alternative family sub-genre. Typically, same sex parents are depicted performing activities which are strongly associated with a traditional nuclear family, whether that be washing a car, going to the beach or cooking dinner. Depending on the specific book, same sex parents can be depicted as taking on gendered roles (such as one parent using tools and mowing the lawn while another parent cooks and reads stories) or gender neutral roles (in which both parents perform similar roles). Regardless of these small differences, the normality of the experience is emphasised through the constant inclusion of items associated with the domestic world.
Importance of love
Perhaps the most universal theme in blended family literature is the importance of love. Parents in all books for a primary school audience (and often for a high school audience) are depicted as loving individuals concerned for their child or step-child. Although often unhappy at the start, the protagonists are always shown to accept the love of others by the conclusion of the text. Even books targeted at very young children often explore nuances of loving relationships. Parents who have divorced each other are shown to continue loving their children and often show an acceptance of step-parents. Alternative family texts, which depict same sex parent’s relationships, often explicitly state that both same sex parents love their children just as much as parents of the opposite sex.
Blended Families Children's Literature 