Francine Lucas Sinclair Pens a Book to Ease the Minds of Children of a Parent in Jail
Posted by bigced on August 31, 2008
Yellow Brick Roads Organization founder, Francine Lucas Sinclair has written a book to help the young children of incarcerated parents understand why they have been left behind. “Daddy Be Good” was written for kids four to seven years old, to explain where there parents are and how making the wrong choices may have gotten them there.
Co-written by British author, Alison Henderson, the book gives a unique prospective and offers alternative answers to questions children may have as to where their parents have gone. Daddy Be Good brings a simple dignity to a devastating event that will change the life of an innocent child.
Using colorful illustrations and non threatening dialogues, the book tells the story of a family of bees that work together to produce honey. The main character is the son bee, Beegood. After a day of rain the road closes and the father bee makes a decision to break the rules of collecting honey and is sent to “The Place of Time Out”. It is now up to the mother bee to explain to Beegood where his father has gone and how they as a family must deal with his absence.
The moral of the book encourages family togetherness, love, unity and acceptance when a parent is away due to incarceration. “What we wanted to do was demonstrate to the children in a non threatening, visually appealing way to choose the right paths in life so they may never go wrong”, says Lucas Sinclair on why she wrote the book.
Lucas Sinclair is the ideal author for this book and especially this topic. She herself was a child of both parents in prison. There has always been media attention on the inmates, the system or the morality of the institution and the story of her own father, Frank Lucas, and the film of his life, American Gangster has thrust both him and Lucas Sinclair into the spotlight. But there are not many materials for children to view that can open a dialogue with the family or other children of incarcerated parents to help them understand what may have happened to their parent. As Lucas Sinclair says, “its not easy for a three year old to understand why daddy or mommy are gone from their lives so abruptly, how do you prepare a child for that, you can only hope to clean up the aftermath”.
Daddy Be Good is available at www.yellowbrickroads.org. Orders placed now will be delivered in November.
About The Yellow Brick Roads Organization
Yellow Brick Roads is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated and committed to providing a safe haven for children of an incarcerated parent(s). Our goal is to give the children a voice to express their feelings, thoughts, dreams and fears. We will provide guidance, life skills classes, academic support, activities and counseling opportunities in a structured and welcoming environment to ensure that each child succeeds with the confidence needed to share their voices with each other, their communities and especially their parent(s).
It is our responsibility to instill into each child of an incarcerated parent that they are not criminals, judged or forgotten. We believe every child should have the opportunity to live a full-filled and prosperous life despite their circumstances. Yellow Brick Roads steps in for the children where the parent’s left off and when society has let them down.
About Francine Lucas-Sinclair
Currently a mortgage broker living in Atlanta with her husband and two young children, Francine Lucas-Sinclair is the founder of the Yellow Brick Roads Organization. Incorporated in January 2008, Lucas-Sinclair has dedicated herself to redirecting, guiding and supporting children of an incarcerated parent(s). Born to Frank and Julie Lucas, Lucas-Sinclair is no stranger to the penal system as it pertains to her parents who both spent years in the system on drug charges. The actions and reactions of her parents shaped her childhood, but it was the support and love of outside entities that make her the women she is today.
