Learning through storytime: An otter's adventure is teaching kids resilience
There is a strong connection between reading fiction and better performance on widely-used empathy and social acumen tests
Children missed out on a lot during the Covid lockdowns and it’s taking a while to recoup the losses.
Working as an art psychotherapist, Katie O’Donoghue sees ample evidence of this. “As we were re-emerging [from lockdowns], trying to acclimatise again to the social aspect of life, I was having a lot of conversations with parents who very much felt their children were overwhelmed.”
This is no surprise, says O’Donoghue, author of recently published . “Children have had two years of developmental experiences taken from them,” says O’Donoghue, who is also a child and young person's therapist.
She sees three foundations to a child’s resilience and development: their inner resources (includes their ability to regulate emotions and their coping skills); the parent/carer-child relationship; and their relationship with peers and the wider community — school, after-school clubs, sports clubs, general engagement with community.
Much of this was unavailable through the lockdowns, says O’Donoghue. “So it is understandable children might be finding new experiences challenging.”
In writing she wanted to provide a creative resource that took into account some of the skills a child might have learned through experience — but didn’t get the opportunity to over the past few years. The book is a charming story of resilience and accepting support.
It tells the story of Little Otter who is scared to learn to swim on her own. But with tips from her riverside friends (the duckling, kingfisher and toad all share their stories about learning to swim, fly and hop), she keeps trying, grows in confidence, and is soon surprised by how far she has travelled, all by herself. And she realises every creature has to start somewhere.
O’Donoghue’s book is a combination of story and psychoeducation — supporting children in learning to persevere, be resilient and accept support in challenges, whether they’re starting school, learning something new, or grappling with a change in family situation.
The story artfully teaches profound life lessons through lovable characters – the hand-painted illustrations are by O’Donoghue. On her way down the stream, Little Otter meets Fluffy Duckling, who seems to be floating along calmly, but underneath the water Little Otter sees Duckling’s feet paddling fast to keep going and realises you never know how hard someone might be trying beneath it all.
“Duckling provides the understanding that our perspective on things mightn’t always be correct — things might look easy for someone, but it might be quite the struggle underneath,” says O’Donoghue.
Kingfisher teaches two things: how important it is to be able to regulate our emotions – and that it took time for him to become the swiftest bird on the river. “When he was a fledgling, he fell many times from his branch. He models that things do take time and practice.”
This, says O’Donoghue, is an especially important message for children because technology has made everything so immediate.
“There’s an awful pressure to be good at things, to achieve perfection. We’re bombarded by it on social media, which children come to so early now. With this book, I want children to understand that things take time to practise. And ultimately, as you put one foot in front of the other over time, you look back and see how far you’ve come and all you’ve learned along the way.”
Toad – who tells Little Otter that from the start he tried to focus on the things he could do – models for children that we all have our strengths and challenges. “He might not be the best jumper because he has short legs, but he can move very fast, swim and hop. He’s not the best at everything and that’s OK.”
When I ask O’Donoghue who’s her favourite character from the book, she says she loves them all. “But today I’m drawn to Dippy the Dipper, his attitude — he’s really friendly and full of energy.”
Dippy the Dipper, she says, teaches about becoming in tune with your body, and about emotional regulation. “He does it through dance, but there are different ways to ground yourself — physical exercise, meditation, mindfulness.
“Dippy also helps navigate and guide Little Otter through the rapids — the lesson is that sometimes we all need a bit of help.”
At what age range is the book targeted? O’Donoghue suggests from four years up in particular — but adds that there’s a message for every age group. “It’s never too late to learn self-compassion, for example.”
Growing up, O’Donoghue read Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton, but also the tales of Beatrix Potter. And as a very young child, she loved Jill Barklem’s Brambly Hedge books about a community of mice who live their lives in harmony with the seasons and in accordance with old values. More than escapism, O’Donoghue says books open children up to a world of wonder, magic and potential. “Stories can be a little spark that can be set off in a child’s world and become an ember, a flame, that can be nurtured and help them develop in a direction they’re interested in.”
She points to research from the University of Toronto that found a strong connection between reading fiction and better performance on widely-used empathy and social acumen tests. “Books give children opportunities to experience other perspectives and to witness different experiences, which can give them the potential to become more empathetic,” says O’Donoghue.
Stories can also validate children’s experiences in powerful ways.
“If a child experiences a character who’s going through challenges the child themselves is going through — that may never have been acknowledged or validated by another — this is incredibly powerful and can begin a journey of healing. The child recognises their experience is valid.”
O’Donoghue — currently in the final stages of a PhD in health psychology — is also author of . Where does she get her inspiration?
“It’s the life experience of what I see through my work with families and children – that’s the psychological aspect. I also find our natural heritage, the wildlife we’re surrounded by, incredibly inspiring.”
Living near the Gap of Dunloe — her husband, Gerald McEnery is originally from the Muckross area — she makes sure to get into the National Park in Killarney at least every weekend. “A different part each week — it’s vast. My connection to the National Park goes back generations. My great-grandfather was a gamekeeper there.”
O’Donoghue has devoted pages at the back of her book to fact guides for the otter, duck, kingfisher, dragonfly, natterjack toad, salmon, and dipper. She details their natural habitat, population, and diet, as well as an interesting fact about each. Ducks, for example ‘may waddle, but can fly pretty fast. At top speed they can hit over 100km per hour’ — and the male natterjack toad’s mating calls can be heard up to a mile away.
O’Donoghue’s work, with its mix of life-enhancing lessons and beautifully-rendered wildlife, is powerful for its attention to children's emotions and to the vibrancy of the natural world.
- , Gill Books, Katie O’Donoghue, €13.99
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