A newspaper has branded a book aimed at helping young children cope with having a parent in prison 'shocking'.
The Daily Mail uses the term to describe 'The Night Dad Went to Jail: What to Expect When Someone You Love Goes to Jail', a storybook which tells the tale of Sketch, a young rabbit whose dad is arrested at their house in front of the neighbours and sent to prison for six years.
The book, written by Melissa Higgins, has Sketch recounting the moment his dad was taken away by the police during a midnight raid.
"We were at Dad's apartment the night the police came. Lights flashed. Neighbors stared. The officers put my dad in handcuffs," Sketch recalls.
Sketch then goes on to details his confusion and even anger at his dad being taken away, and how he coped with seeing him in prison for the first time.
The book also has footnotes explaining the arrest and sentencing process and what is happening to Sketch's dad.
One reads 'laws are rules that tell people how they should behave. When people break a law, they may be put in jail or prison. They have to stay there for a period of time. How long depends upon what law they broke'.
The book was first published in 2011, and has attracted rave (and somewhat strange) reviews on Amazon from parents saying it enabled their children to understand in an age appropriate way what happens when a parent is arrested.
Its author specialises in titles aimed at helping children through difficult family situations - her other books include Weekends with Dad: What to Expect when your Parents Divorce, and We All Have Different Families.