[This is part three in a series on our favorite children’s stories and is being cross-posted on my new parenting blog.  Please visit the first post for instructions!]

Shortly after my daughter was born, her bilirubin level spiked and we had to take her into the hospital.  Our brave girl was taken through the ER up to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), leaving us bewildered and scared.

For five days, she was strapped to a small bed with heat lamps pointed at her small body, with a blindfold over her eyes.  She lay there in nothing but her diaper and she looked so vulnerable.  I remember her making so little noise.

While she was in the NICU, we visited her every morning, afternoon, and evening.  While we were there, we’d read to her the books that I read to her in utero.  One of those was Duck & Goose written and illustrated by Tad Hills.  This is the third book in the Favorite Children’s Stories series.

Duck & Goose tells the story of two strangers who meet each other and become fast enemies.  They hate each other and find all sorts of differences, until they realize their differences are pretty small next to how much more they have in common.

The story of these friends feels like real life.  It is so recognizable to see the times in which we jump to conclusions and assume the other person has it out for you…until you step back and realize you were wrong: terribly wrong.

In fact you both feel the exact same way.

Rose and I read this to our daughter because we loved it.  We thought it was cute.  But the circumstance in which it was read locked it in place, galvanized in our minds as a story about sacrifice and perseverance.  Sometimes the reminders of tragedies and scars are the thing that makes us that much stronger.  And sometimes those scars aren’t for our children, but for us as parents.

Related articles

• Favorite Children’s Stories (novacation.wordpress.com)