10 Children’s Books About Deployment

Military children go through many hardships, the most difficult one being separated from a parent for long periods of time. Reading children’s books about deployment or about military members being gone can help children understand and process their feelings. Books are a fantastic teaching tool! Check out these children’s books about deployment to help your child navigate the confusing aspects of military life.

Below are ten picture books to help your children or your students cope with a deployed parent. Click the pictures or titles of these children’s books about deployment to find them on Amazon!

H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet by Devin Scillian

Written by the son of a career officer, this book explores the branches of the Armed Services and speaks from the heart about the honor, privileges and sacrifices of military families everywhere. Children will discover why drill sergeants have to be so tough, what it means to be patriotic and why we need Special Forces such as the Navy SEALS, the Green Berets and the Army Rangers.

Night Catch by Brenda Ehrmantraut

This book was inspired by the her brother’s deployment to Iraq and shares a fun game that children can play with their deployed family member. This helps them feel connected despite being miles apart.

Love, Lizzie: Letters to a Military Mom by Lisa Tucker McElroy

In this book, Lizzie writes letters to her mom while she’s away. Children can learn about ways to keep in touch with their loved ones while their gone and how to share about important events in their life.

Hero Dad by Melinda Hardin

Some superheroes wear rocket-propelled boots, drive super-powered cars, and have X-ray vision. But other superheroes wear army boots, drive tanks, and go away for long trips to make the world a safer place. It’s a tough job, but superheroes can do it.

Hero Mom by Melinda Hardin

The moms in the book are superheroes. They may not leap over tall buildings, and they may not have super-human speed. But these moms construct buildings, fly planes, and make tanks roll. They do all kinds of things to help create a safer world. These superheroes are moms. Military moms. Hero moms.

Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops by Jill Biden

Inspired by her own granddaughter Natalie, First Lady Jill Biden tells a story through a child’s eyes of what family life is like when a parent is at war across the world.

Brave Like Me by Barbara Kerley

When someone is serving our country, far from home, everyone in their family has to be brave. Including — and sometimes especially — the kids. This book speaks to all kids in this situation in telling the story of a boy and a girl with parents away on duty. 

Lily Hates Goodbyes by Jerilyn Marler

Lily has to say goodbye to her dad for what feels like a billion days. She is feeling scared about saying goodbye and wants to feel connected to him while he’s away. Lily learns to cope with her feelings and that she can be happy in her daily life even though her dad is gone.

I’ll Lend You My Daddy by Becky King

This book is great for children with parents in all branches of the military. In this book, children learn to manage their feelings as they experience the different parts of a deployment: saying goodbye, the first night, missed birthdays, etc.

Deployment: One of Our Pieces is Missing by Julia Cook

Julia Cook provides tips for both adults and children processing their feelings about a deployed family member. In this book, the family must learn to adapt to their new normal after their dad leaves for a deployment. When he returns, they must navigate reintegration as well.

We all process the feelings surrounding a deployment in different ways. Try reading some of these children’s books about deployments with your own kids to help them learn that it’s okay to feel sad about their parent being gone.

Looking for books to read about Veterans Day? Check out this blog post!

Looking for more book recommendations? Check out these blog posts!