Created by Holly Marlow (adoptive and biological parent, and author of Adopting a Little Brother or Sister) and her sister, Suzy Garland. When Delly Duck lays an egg, she is excited for it to hatch. But she doesn’t really know how to keep an egg safe, or how to look after her chick when he hatches. See how a concerned goose tries to help Delly to learn how to care for her chick, in this touching adoption story.
Delly Duck: Why A Little Chick Couldn’t Stay With His Birth Mother is intended to help support and stimulate discussion around some of the questions an adopted or fostered child (or another child trying to understand adoption) may have. The story can be used to help answer difficult and emotive questions, such as Why can’t I live with my birth mother? and Why didn’t someone just teach her how to parent me safely?
No two adoption stories are the same, so symbolism has been used that is open to appropriate interpretation by the parent, kinship carer, social worker, play therapist, teacher or other adult reading this story with a child. The beautifully-illustrated story includes animal characters that may reflect common behaviours and responsibilities of several of the key people involved in an adoption process. Delly is a likeable duck, who sadly makes some poor choices and struggles to care for her chick in a consistently safe way.
The book includes a helpful guide to the symbolism, with suggestions as to how the various metaphors can be used to support therapeutic life story work and answer questions about the challenges faced by a child’s birth parents, such as memory or concentration problems, addiction and/or poor or inconsistent role models during their own childhoods. Above all, it portrays that all adults involved want the best for adopted children, and that they are so very loved.
