Foster Plus, one of the UK's leading independent fostering agencies, has published a series of booklets aimed at helping children cope with and understand more about the experience.

The three booklets, written by Joanne Alper, tell the story of five-year-old Kirsty and her two younger brothers who are going through the fostering process because their mother is having difficulties looking after them.

The books are called Billy Says It's Not Your Fault, Billy Says You Should Be Taken Care Of and Billy Says Foster Carers Can Help. Billy is a magic, talking doll who encourages Kirsty to talk about her feelings and is able to explain to her what is happening to her family. He also attempts to explain why.

The booklets are clearly child-friendly. They are brightly coloured, fully illustrated and use simple language. Billy is a likeable character who children will trust and believe.

In the first book Billy stresses to Kirsty that the problems her family is having are not her fault. He also emphasises all of her good points, although she finds it hard to accept praise.

Smudgy the cat also plays an important part in the booklets, as Billy compares what Kirsty is going through with how the cat felt when he was separated from his mum as a kitten. This simple comparison will easily be understood by children.

In the third book Kirsty is now with her foster carers. Billy tries to reassure Kirsty that her new carers are kind people who will look after her while her mum sorts out her problems.

The three books address many of the key feelings a small child in the same situation is likely to be experiencing. Kirsty expresses fear, insecurity, sadness and anger. She tries not to cry but Billy says it's OK to cry. He tells her it's good to ask questions but stresses that sometimes it may take time to get answers.

Thankfully, the books don't have an unrealistic "happy ever after" ending. The third book finishes with Kirsty deciding it will be OK living with her foster carers while her mum and the social workers sort things out. The possibility that Kirsty may have to live permanently with a new family is also covered.

Any young child facing the prospect of having to leave a troubled home to live with foster carers is likely to be reassured and take something positive from these booklets. Maybe it would be a good idea to publish similar books but with a little boy taking Kirsty's place so that all young children could relate fully to the central character.

For details of how to purchase any of these books e-mail Fosterplus directly.