Dad David, Baba Chris and Me

Overview

Dad David, Baba Chris and Me is a 2010 British children's book by Ed Merchant, illustrated by Rachel Fuller and published by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering. Public summaries describe Ben, a child adopted by gay parents, and the teasing he faces after starting school. The item is significant because it comes from an adoption and fostering context rather than a conventional trade-picture-book setting. PinkNews reported that Merchant worked in adoption and fostering and wrote the book to support understanding of same-sex parenting. Resource guides later used it for family diversity, bullying, and LGBT-inclusive primary education. In the collection, it belongs with adoption, two-father family, and school-response materials.^{[1][2][3][5][6][7][8]}

Adoption And Fostering Context

This item is not only a picture book about two fathers. It is also a child-facing adoption and fostering resource. Public descriptions identify Ben as a child adopted by Dad David and Baba Chris, and PinkNews tied the book to Merchant's work in adoption and fostering. That background matters because the book explains family difference through care, placement, birth parents, and professional support. It belongs with collection items that present family formation as lived experience rather than as abstract tolerance language.^[2][3][5][1]

Bullying, Teacher Support, And Friends

The story's school section gives it a practical purpose. Public resource summaries describe Ben being teased because he lives with two dads, then receiving help from Baba Chris, his teacher, and friends. The Worcester Family Diversities Reading Resource notes that the bullying does not entirely disappear, a detail that keeps the book from offering a simple cure. The item therefore records one way early primary resources addressed prejudice: not by making the child responsible for changing others, but by surrounding him with adult and peer support.^[5][3][6][1]

A Child's Question About The Future

The local catalog and the Worcester resource both note a later conversation in which Ben asks whether he will grow up gay. That moment is unusual among the collection's picture-book records because it connects parent identity, child identity, and future self-understanding in one domestic exchange. The wording should be read historically and carefully. Its importance lies in the question being voiced at all, and in the parents' answer that Ben will know his feelings as he grows older and will be supported.^[1][5]

Resource-List Afterlife

The title continued to circulate through education and library resource lists after publication. LGBT Education Scotland includes it in a primary book-review resource for themes of bullying, prejudice, discrimination, diverse families, and LGBT parents. Readings and Little Parachutes maintain public summaries for family and child readers. This afterlife helps explain why the collection item matters: it documents a book designed for use, not simply for literary reception, and shows how schools and family-support networks kept it visible.^[6][7][3]

Timeline

1. 1980BAAF ContextBAAF was formed to support adoption and fostering practice, giving the title its professional-resource setting.^[8]
2. 2010Publication And Press CoveragePinkNews covered Merchant's book in February 2010, and public records list the title's 2010 BAAF publication.^[2][7]
3. 2017Family Diversities Reading ResourceThe University of Worcester resource describes the title in a corpus of family-diversity books.^[5]
4. 2023LGBT-Inclusive Primary ResourceLGBT Education Scotland includes the book in its primary book-review resource.^[6]

Adoption And School-Resource Context

The item is strongest when read through adoption, school, and resource-list networks.

Citation

Dad David, Baba Chris and Me. Ed Merchant; illustrated by Rachel Fuller. British Association for Adoption and Fostering / BAAF, 2010. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-080.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

1. Tarpey-Schwed catalog seed record · catalog
2. PinkNews article on Ed Merchant and Dad David, Baba Chris and Me · news
3. Little Parachutes entry for Dad David, Baba Chris and Me · resource
4. Books for Keeps review including Dad David, Baba Chris and Me · review
5. Family Diversities Reading Resource · university resource
6. LGBT Education Scotland primary book reviews · education resource
7. Readings record for Dad David, Baba Chris and Me · bookseller
8. CoramBAAF organizational history · organization history