100 books like Delly Duck

By Holly Marlow, Suzy Garland (illustrator),

Here are 100 books that Delly Duck fans have personally recommended if you like Delly Duck. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of This Is Me

Anna Anderson Author Of Survival Without Roots: Memoir of an Adopted Englishwoman

From my list on growing up adopted.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. I am a birth mother and also a mother through adoption. I have lived through all ‘three faces’ of adoption and know how each ‘face’ affects millions of people's lives all over the world. I am passionate that conversations around adoption need to come out of the closet and the secrecy surrounding the subject must disappear. By writing my books, I am on a mission to support adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents and help them realise they are not alone. After publication of my first book in the Survival Without Roots trilogy, I am humbled that people are reaching out to say that reading Book One has helped them so much.  

Anna's book list on growing up adopted

Anna Anderson Why did Anna love this book?

Fiona leaves no stone unturned as she describes the journey of her years dabbling with drugs and alcohol brought on by the trauma of growing up adopted. Fiona shows a true spirit of determination to fight through her adoption traumas of rejection and abandonment. I wondered all the way through this book whether she would succeed or if her experiences would eventually be too much for one person to bear.

By Fiona Myles,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Is Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The true-life story of Fiona who always felt displaced, a girl looking for belonging and security. This is Me No Darkness Too Deep, explores the ups and downs when as a young woman she roller-coasted, travelling from city to city and meeting trouble at every stop. Fiona spent many years in the depths of dark and desolate places, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. She was beaten, she slept rough and was used and abused and endured the horrors of rape. Carrying the weight of being an adoptee meant that she struggled through abandonment and rejection issues.

The author is not ashamed…


Book cover of This Is Me: I'm Adopted

Anna Anderson Author Of Survival Without Roots: Memoir of an Adopted Englishwoman

From my list on growing up adopted.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. I am a birth mother and also a mother through adoption. I have lived through all ‘three faces’ of adoption and know how each ‘face’ affects millions of people's lives all over the world. I am passionate that conversations around adoption need to come out of the closet and the secrecy surrounding the subject must disappear. By writing my books, I am on a mission to support adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents and help them realise they are not alone. After publication of my first book in the Survival Without Roots trilogy, I am humbled that people are reaching out to say that reading Book One has helped them so much.  

Anna's book list on growing up adopted

Anna Anderson Why did Anna love this book?

As a follow-on from her first book, Fiona tells us of her never-ending search for love and affection and the difficulties in forging relationships. I was rooting for her to have a happy ending. If you have read This is Me: No Darkness Too Deepthen you must read this second book in Fiona's trilogy to see where her adoptee journey takes her. It's not the ending I expected!

By Fiona Myles,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Is Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This Is Me: I'm Adopted

Fiona Myles author of This is me – No Darkness to Deep presents her second book This Is Me – I’m Adopted a true-life autobiography.
Fiona was adopted at 8 months old. From the age of 6 when her first real memory of being told she was adopted registered, she started to feel different. Always being reassured she was special, chosen and wanted seemed to just enhance that feeling of not being the same as her brother and sister. Emotionally the struggle was intense as instead of being able to speak about how she was…


Book cover of The Primal Wound

Anna Anderson Author Of Survival Without Roots: Memoir of an Adopted Englishwoman

From my list on growing up adopted.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. I am a birth mother and also a mother through adoption. I have lived through all ‘three faces’ of adoption and know how each ‘face’ affects millions of people's lives all over the world. I am passionate that conversations around adoption need to come out of the closet and the secrecy surrounding the subject must disappear. By writing my books, I am on a mission to support adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents and help them realise they are not alone. After publication of my first book in the Survival Without Roots trilogy, I am humbled that people are reaching out to say that reading Book One has helped them so much.  

Anna's book list on growing up adopted

Anna Anderson Why did Anna love this book?

I recommend this book as it explains what to take into consideration when trying to understand the adopted child. I am adopted and did not realise that a lot of the lifelong trauma I have felt was related to adoption. It is a must-read for adopted people, adoptive families, birth parents, and adoption professionals. 

By Nancy Newton Verrier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Primal Wound as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Primal Wound is a seminal work which revolutionizes the way we think about adoption. It describes and clarifies the effects of separating babies from their birth mothers as a primal loss which affects the relationships of the adopted person throughout life.. It is a book about pre-and perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss. It gives adoptees, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior. It lists the coping mechanisms which adoptees use to be able to attach and live in a family to whom they are not related…


Book cover of An Adoptee's Journey: Letters of My Life

Anna Anderson Author Of Survival Without Roots: Memoir of an Adopted Englishwoman

From my list on growing up adopted.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. I am a birth mother and also a mother through adoption. I have lived through all ‘three faces’ of adoption and know how each ‘face’ affects millions of people's lives all over the world. I am passionate that conversations around adoption need to come out of the closet and the secrecy surrounding the subject must disappear. By writing my books, I am on a mission to support adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents and help them realise they are not alone. After publication of my first book in the Survival Without Roots trilogy, I am humbled that people are reaching out to say that reading Book One has helped them so much.  

Anna's book list on growing up adopted

Anna Anderson Why did Anna love this book?

Communication through letters is a lovely way to be able to say what you feel to all those in Gaynor’s life who shunned her, loved her, and abandoned her. She never met some of the recipients, but the feelings and emotions as an adoptee have remained lodged in her memory for years. Her book unearths them and unleashes them through the power of the written word. Gaynor does not hold back and writes her letters with an honesty and a rawness that is touching.

By Gaynor Cherieann,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An Adoptee's Journey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is the 1960s; a sixteen-year-old girl is in a mother and baby home; her heart is breaking as she prepares to give up her baby for adoption.

Shunned by society, she has no choice.

That baby was me.

Join me on my life’s journey through the letters I have written to everyone who has shared my unique story. Follow me as I find the courage to share this story, from my birth to my unhappy adoption to getting married and becoming a mum and granny.

Learn how I took control of my life after disassociating myself from my past,…


Book cover of Three Pennies

Tricia Springstubb Author Of The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe

From my list on middle grade fiction about The Thing with Feathers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve written books for kids of all ages, and always there were birds. Sparrows singing on windowsills, cardinals arrowing across yards, cormorants diving into Lake Erie, pigeons poking beneath park benches. Those things with feathers make my own heart sing!  Slowly it dawned on me that I wanted to write a book where birds didn’t just flit across the pages but nested at the story’s heart. I had to do a lot of bird research for Perfect. What I learned about the precious, fragile bonds among all Earth’s creatures became one of the book’s themes: big and small, bound by gravity or able to defy it, we are all deeply connected. 

Tricia's book list on middle grade fiction about The Thing with Feathers

Tricia Springstubb Why did Tricia love this book?

Because…I adore multiple points of view. Here we get Marin, a foster child seeking clues to her past through the  I Ching; a beleaguered but loveable social worker; a woman longing for a child; an orphaned owl out of his element in the city; and the Earth herself. 

My favorite is Owl, who knows what it is to be abandoned and sees Marin as a hatchling he needs to protect. This is a short book with very brief chapters, but Crowder fills it with the wisdom of the ages (or is it the wisdom of owls?) I especially love how beautifully she handles friendship between generations and species.

By Melanie Crowder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Pennies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A girl in foster care tries to find her birth mother before she loses her forever in this spare and beautifully told novel about last chances and new opportunities.

For a kid bouncing from foster home to foster home, The Book of Changes is the perfect companion. That’s why Marin carries three pennies and a pocket-sized I Ching with her everywhere she goes. Yet when everything in her life suddenly starts changing—when Marin lands in a foster home that feels like somewhere she could stay, maybe forever—the pennies don’t have any answers for her.

Marin is positive that all the…


Book cover of We Can Talk About It: A Conversation Starter for Foster and Adoptive Families

Marcy Pusey Author Of Speranza's Sweater: A Child's Journey Through Foster Care and Adoption

From my list on for foster and adoptive families.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a birth, foster, adoptive, and pseudo mom to many children, I know firsthand how hard it is to find quality literature that reflects their experience and gives them skills for their own life journey. As a therapist, certified in trauma and resilience, having spent many years in social services, I also see the lack of resources available to caregivers, teachers, and counselors. It's my passion to help remove shame, build resilience, and reclaim hope in the lives of each member of these families. I’ve done this through a TEDx talk on the power of story on the brain, authored multiple books, speak regularly, offer trainings, and private parent coaching.

Marcy's book list on for foster and adoptive families

Marcy Pusey Why did Marcy love this book?

As a therapist, longtime foster/adoption advocate, and fost/adopt mama, I’m always looking for books that help adults have healthy, child-driven conversations with kids. More than most, kids in foster care and adoptive placements need safe spaces to feel their feelings, navigate life changes, and experience caring adults. Debut author Whitney Bunker brings her personal experiences as a foster/adoptive mama and Executive Director / Co-Founder of City Without Orphans to do just that. We Can Talk About It shows kids that the healthy, supportive adults in their lives are safe places for the questions that will come, while simultaneously modeling for adults how to be that safe place. This book is just one of many beautiful ways Bunker and her organization seek to serve hurting but hopeful families.

By Whitney Bunker, Jena Holliday (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Can Talk About It as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Author, adoptive mom, and social worker, Whitney Bunker provides a unique book for the foster and adoptive community. As parents of children from foster care and adoption, you have the privilege to walk alongside them in understanding their story. This book is a guide and on-going conversation starter for families who need support in talking about honest feelings and thoughts surrounding their child’s journey. It guides parents and caregivers through various scenes of familiar expressions
of children who have experienced foster care or adoption. As an added support, there are nine parental tips in the back of the book for…


Book cover of Reuben’s Story: From Birth to Adoption

Holly Marlow Author Of Delly Duck: Why A Little Chick Couldn't Stay With His Birth Mother

From my list on helping adoptive parents be better parents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an adoptive parent and I often use stories to help my children to understand and process emotive topics. While we were going through the adoption process, I couldn’t find any stories that adequately explained why some children can’t stay with their birth families, so I decided to create my own! I found the waiting during the adoption process quite unbearable and put every spare minute to good use, reading books by adoptees and birth parents, so that I could understand the experiences of the people affected most by adoption. These autobiographies were a tough, emotional read at times, but they all changed me for the better. 

Holly's book list on helping adoptive parents be better parents

Holly Marlow Why did Holly love this book?

After his adoption was finalised, 8-year-old Cai asked his mother to help him create a story to share with his friends, to explain his story, and together they used his words to create Reuben’s Story. The short, powerful story is written in “Reuben’s” voice, discussing the events that led to him being in foster care, then adopted. He talks in a matter-of-fact way, as 8-year-olds do, about things that 8-year-olds should never experience, and about his life after adoption. I initially bought this for my children, but read it myself first and found it incredibly moving. I recommend that all adoptive parents read it, especially those who adopted older children. 

By Joanna Clifton, Cai Clifton (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reuben’s Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Reuben is adopted when he is old enough to remember his time with his birth family, various foster care placements, and the transition to his adoptive family, after meeting his adoptive parent, Taylor, at an activity day. Reuben's account is written in his own voice, which makes the story engaging and accessible to young readers.

This book is based on a true story of a boy's journey from birth, through foster care, to adoption, as an older child. It can be used to help older adopted children with life story work, where the events can be related to and compared…


Book cover of Love You From Right Here

Marcy Pusey Author Of Speranza's Sweater: A Child's Journey Through Foster Care and Adoption

From my list on for foster and adoptive families.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a birth, foster, adoptive, and pseudo mom to many children, I know firsthand how hard it is to find quality literature that reflects their experience and gives them skills for their own life journey. As a therapist, certified in trauma and resilience, having spent many years in social services, I also see the lack of resources available to caregivers, teachers, and counselors. It's my passion to help remove shame, build resilience, and reclaim hope in the lives of each member of these families. I’ve done this through a TEDx talk on the power of story on the brain, authored multiple books, speak regularly, offer trainings, and private parent coaching.

Marcy's book list on for foster and adoptive families

Marcy Pusey Why did Marcy love this book?

Sandefer, a foster mama herself, wanted to give other foster parents words of comfort to give to their own hurting foster children. Love You From Right Here does just that. Kids in foster care have had so many choices taken from them. I love how this book gives some back. Sandefer has created a place where children can see another child’s agency protected and cared for, where the adult invites (instead of forces) and the child responds when he or she is ready. Sandefer’s story does a beautiful job of illustrating that trust and safety aren’t to be rushed, but developed through patience, kindness, and empathy. Kids and adults need this book.

By Jamie Sandefer, Pamela Goodman (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love You From Right Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

The Second Edition of Love You From Right Here is a children’s book for children in foster care. Featuring a diverse representation of characters including men, women, boys, and girls, it is written from the perspective of the foster parent to the child in foster care. This book takes you through an abbreviated look at the emotions a young child experiences throughout their transition to a new foster home. The message to the child is that while they are in that home, they will be safe and loved. Love You From Right Here also serves as a keepsake book, with…


Book cover of That Mean Old Yesterday

Matthew Pratt Guterl Author Of Skinfolk: A Memoir

From my list on heartbreaking memoirs of race and adoption.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised as one of two white kids in a large, multiracial adoptive family by loving parents who wanted to change the world. Our parents were thoughtful about adoption, ambitious about the symbolism of our family, and raised us all to be conscious about race, to see it, and to guard against it. But the world is a lot bigger than our house and racism is insidious and so, in a way, we all eventually got swallowed up. So I started thinking hard about the dynamic relationship between race and adoption and family when I was just a kid, and I’ve never really stopped. 

Matthew's book list on heartbreaking memoirs of race and adoption

Matthew Pratt Guterl Why did Matthew love this book?

I should have read this book years ago. This singularly brilliant memoir is an undoing of the most pernicious adoption myth: that which traces the success of adopted children to their new families.

In this case, a bright and talented young woman makes it out of the foster system before eventually going to Penn and becoming an accomplished journalist and professor, but her adoption out of foster care turns into yet another traumatic experience.

Ambitiously, Patton spins that trauma outward, expanding the background until it spans centuries. When, by the close, she makes the start of a career for herself, that triumph is pretty much hers alone.

By Stacey Patton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked That Mean Old Yesterday as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An astonishing coming-of-age memoir by a young woman who survived the foster care system to become an award-winning journalist On a rainy night in November 1999, a shoeless Stacey Patton, promising student at NYU, approached her adoptive parents' house with a gun in her hand. She wanted to kill them. Or so she thought. No one would ever imagine that the vibrant, smart, and attractive Stacey had a childhood from hell. After all, with God-fearing, house-proud, and hardworking adoptive parents, she appeared to beat the odds. But her mother was tyrannical, and her father turned a blind eye to the…


Book cover of Are You My New Mum?

Holly Marlow Author Of Delly Duck: Why A Little Chick Couldn't Stay With His Birth Mother

From my list on helping adoptive parents be better parents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an adoptive parent and I often use stories to help my children to understand and process emotive topics. While we were going through the adoption process, I couldn’t find any stories that adequately explained why some children can’t stay with their birth families, so I decided to create my own! I found the waiting during the adoption process quite unbearable and put every spare minute to good use, reading books by adoptees and birth parents, so that I could understand the experiences of the people affected most by adoption. These autobiographies were a tough, emotional read at times, but they all changed me for the better. 

Holly's book list on helping adoptive parents be better parents

Holly Marlow Why did Holly love this book?

I found this short, emotional story impossible to put down. I read it in one sitting, spent the next few days thinking about it, then read it again. Astrid talks about her childhood, including the events that led to her being taken into foster care, and her fear and confusion when this happened. Astrid talks about her experiences of sibling contact in foster care and after adoption, which I found really interesting. Adoptive parents should read this, to help understand how their children may feel if they have siblings placed elsewhere.

By Astrid Peerson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Are You My New Mum? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Are you my new mum? Tells of the harrowing true story of the Peerson siblings. You'll read the disturbing words written by Astrid, of the abuse herself, and her siblings endured on a daily basis.

Unloved, abused, and neglected by their biological parents.

Astrid's father, an evil, narcissistic, pedophile, who abused his position as the head of of the household.
Astrid's mother, who sat back and allowed the abuse to go on, for many years, even sometimes joining in.

Astrid tells her story from childhood abuse, being taken to a children's home, being in a few foster homes, finding a…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in foster care, adoption, and ducks?

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