Goodbye, Mom and Dad!

Get lost.
      Adios.
           See ya later. 

It’s a common practice in children’s stories to shove the parents out of the picture or at least keep them way in the background. With those protective, nosy, hovering parents out of the picture, your young character is free to go off on adventures.

Kid readers love how this empowers them. In real life, they're stuck with guardians keeping them away from danger and preventing risky behavior. But through a story your readers will identify with the characters, allowing them to fly off into space, fight dragons, solve mysteries, conquer the school bully, or become a powerful wizard. None of this can happen if parents are around to keep them “safe.”

Children could be separated from parents by death, as is Harry Potter. Even his aunt and uncle are tossed aside so he can go to wizard school. In fact, dead parents are quite common. Roald Dahl’s Matilda is an orphan. The Boxcar Children are orphans. Anne of Green Gables is an orphan. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz is not only an orphan, but is swept away from her aunt by a tornado.

A parent may have gone off on their own adventure. Pippi Longstocking’s father is off at sea somewhere, leaving her at home alone with her pet monkey and horse. Mother’s whereabouts is unknown. Sammy Keyes, the mystery sleuth, lives with her grandmother because her own mother took off for a career in Hollywood. Father unknown.

A parent may be too wrapped up in work. Nancy Drew’s father is there but he’s busy being a lawyer. Mom is dead. Or maybe Mom is simply out shopping. The Cat in the Hat shows up one rainy day and brings chaos to the children when Mom is not home.

Parents may not be around because the kid is off at summer camp or has run away to join the circus. They may have gotten separated because of a storm or the child was kidnapped by pirates.

So just imagine how boring these stories would have been if the parents had been kept around and the young characters were deprived of their adventures. Not only do you want to get rid of the parents, you want to let the child protagonist solve the story problem. Don’t allow any substitute parent, such as a grandparent, teacher, or uncle, come to the rescue.

Your young hero must face dangers, face obstacles, face fears and conquer them. It’s the best, most entertaining way for the reader to have a vicarious adventure and learn how to be powerful in the process.