Children don’t dissolve in the rain: A story about parenthood and playwork

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Part memoir, part manifesto, Children don’t dissolve in the rain is about prioritising play. The importance of being playful, living playfully and being brave: trying things out, working things through and exploring feelings, nonjudgmentally engaging with humans with openness and creativity.

Adele draws from her own experiences with play - as a child, an aunt, a mother and a playworker - with lessons learned from Cuba, Cape Verde, Sweden, Canada, Ghana, Great Ormond Street Hospital and her home town, Birmingham. Her journey highlights play as arguably the most neglected, yet crucial, part of childhood and parenthood.

As a new parent, having a partner and then a partner and a child, and experiencing baby loss, she admits she sometimes forgets her own advice. She often re-realises the importance of play for her child’s early brain development and for her own mental health.

At times heartbreaking, always hopeful, this book will leave you invigorated, informed and inspired to pursue a life full of play.