How to Make a Book for When a Parent Is Away

A book for when a parent is away is a small picture book, made about your own family, that helps a child understand a parent's absence: work travel, a military deployment, or a long hospital stay. It answers the questions young children worry about most: where is my parent, who takes care of me, how do we talk, and when do they come home. Real photos and real names make it feel close, especially on the nights the parent is missed most.

Why make your own book for a parent who is away?

Young children understand absence in concrete terms. "Daddy is in Denver for two weeks" means little to a three-year-old. A book with Daddy's photo, a picture of the grandparent who is staying over, and a page of sleeps to count makes it real.

The book is written like a social story, in first person and present tense, describing what will happen in a calm, literal way. The away parent can help make it before they leave, which turns it into something from them, too.

For deployment or a parent's hospital stay, a book can support your conversations but is not counseling. If your child is struggling, their pediatrician, school counselor or a therapist can help, and families connected to the military often have family-support resources worth asking about.

What should a book about a parent being away include?

Focus on what your child will actually experience day to day. Most of these books cover:

• Where the parent is going and why. One honest, simple sentence: "Mama is going to work on a ship," or "Daddy needs to stay in the hospital to get better."
• Who takes care of me. Who does school drop-off, bath time and bedtime. Photos of these grown-ups help a lot.
• What stays the same. School, friends, the bedtime song, Saturday pancakes.
• How we stay in touch. Video calls, phone calls, letters, drawings in the mail, and recorded messages or videos the parent made before leaving.
• A countdown or calendar. A page to mark off days, or a simpler idea like "after two birthdays" for a long deployment.
• Feelings are OK. Missing someone, feeling mad they left, feeling happy on a good day.
• Coming home. What the reunion will look like, as far as you know.

A page-by-page outline you can copy

This 14-page outline is in first person. Change the bracketed words for your family, and adjust the coming-home page if the date is uncertain.

1. Cover: "While [Daddy] Is Away," with a photo of your child and the away parent together.
2. Meet me: "My name is [Name]. My [Daddy] and I love to [build forts]."
3. Going away: "[Daddy] is going to [Japan for work]. He will be gone for [two weeks]."
4. Why: "[Daddy] [has an important job to do / needs to get better in the hospital]. He is not leaving because of anything I did."
5. Who takes care of me: "[Mommy] and [Grandpa Joe] take care of me while [Daddy] is away."
6. My days: "I still go to [school]. [Grandpa] picks me up on [Tuesdays]."
7. Bedtime: "At bedtime, [Mommy] reads to me and we sing [our song]."
8. Talking to [Daddy]: "We [video call] on [Sundays]. I can show him my drawings."
9. Messages from [Daddy]: "When I miss him, I can watch the video he made of him reading this book."
10. Things I can send: "I can [draw a picture] or [tell him about my day] to share next time we talk."
11. My countdown: "I put a sticker on the calendar every night. [When all the boxes are full, Daddy comes home / Every sticker means one more day until Daddy comes home]." Use a full countdown only if you know the date.
12. Big feelings: "Sometimes I miss [Daddy] a lot. I might feel sad or grumpy. That's OK. I can hug [his shirt] and tell [Mommy]."
13. Coming home: "[Daddy] comes home and gives me a big hug. We [go get pizza]."
14. Last page: "Even when we are far apart, [Daddy] loves me, and I love him."

Words that help for the hardest pages

The missing-them and countdown pages are where children stop and ask questions. Keep them honest and steady:

[Mama] is far away, but she thinks about me every day. I can look at her picture any time.

I don't know the exact day [Mama] comes home yet. When we know, we will put a star on the calendar.

It's OK to be mad that [Daddy] had to go. I can still love him while I feel mad.

For a long hospital stay, keep medical details very simple and avoid promising a return date; your child's care team or pediatrician can help you choose words.

When and how should I read it?

Start a week or two before the parent leaves, so the story is already familiar on goodbye day.

• Make it together. Let the away parent and your child choose photos and write a page side by side.
• Read it at bedtime while the parent is away, and mark the countdown at the same time.
• Bring it to calls. Your child can show the page they are on.
• Keep a copy with the away parent. Many families send one along so both can read the same book.

How to make it on makeabook.fun

makeabook.fun is free, runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and needs no sign-up.

1. Open a blank book. Start with "A blank book" (twelve empty pages) and add pages to match the outline.
2. Write one idea per page using the outline above.
3. Add family photos. Upload pictures of the away parent, the caregivers and your child's routine. Drag to reposition and zoom.
4. Make the countdown page. Your child can draw boxes or a path of stars on the built-in drawing pad, or you can print it and add stickers to the paper copy.
5. Choose an easy font. Andika, designed for children learning to read, helps early readers read along.
6. Finish the cover and dedication, such as "For [Name], from [Daddy], with love."
7. Flip through it in the reader, then print.

Printing a copy for home and one to send

The free full-color print-at-home PDF lets you print as many copies as you need, one for home and one for the parent's bag. If you want a sturdier keepsake for a long deployment, the Keepsake edition ($2.99 once per book) gives print-shop quality at the exact book size, no makeabook.fun mark, a fold-and-staple booklet layout and free re-downloads after edits. Our guide on how to print a picture book at home covers paper and binding, and the two homes book page has more ideas for calendar pages.