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I'm just curious about the "Donald Duckling" (Paperino Paperotto) universe. I take it that it originated in Italy. And young Donald is living on the farm with Grandma Duck, who is bringing him up (parents already out of the picture). Now, these stories are never going to be "real" to me, because I follow Rosa's view of Donald's childhood: that he and Della lived with their parents, who presumably died when D&D were in early adulthood. But I have no problem at all with there being different versions of the ducks' world in different writers' stories, and I often enjoy and re-read stories that don't fit into my "reality." I am, though, curious about how the creators of the Paperino Paperotto stories thought about how their stories fit in with Donald's adulthood, and especially with the existence of Huey, Dewey and Louie. In short: WHERE IS DELLA? Or any sister who could be the boys' mother? She couldn't be born later, because the parents are already (dead and) gone. I can understand the writers not wanting to have to work in a sister, but did they really think that readers wouldn't care about Donald's only-child status, wouldn't wonder where HDL had come from? I know I would have, even as a child. Does anyone know whether there was ever any attempt to explain this? I guess she could be imagined to be at least ten years older than Donald, old enough when they are orphaned that she is out on her own....

To be honest you don't even have to read Don Rosa stories to ask this question. The share fact HD&L exist strongly suggest Donald has a sister so it's a good question to ask when you read those stories...

And where are his parents? Aha! Donald Duckling lives with his Grandma on a farm in a remote village near Duckburg. Maybe Della lives with her parents and Donald was sent away to his Grandma? Alternatively, she hadn't been born/hatched yet. I'm sure there's a lot of "interesting" theories you could come up with. Say... why DOES he live all alone on a farm with his Grandma? You're not supposed to ask these questions, I think. Italian Duck continuity is something completely different anyway.

Quote from user: MatildaAnd again I say, I do *not* think all stories should fit into a single continuity. I do enjoy stories that don't fit into my personal sense of the ducks' "reality". But I still say the child-me would have thought Donald Duckling should have had a sister or brother.
Come to think about it only in Rosa continuity they are twins so in any other continuity she can very well be much older (teenage) or not even born yet as the events of Donald Duckling's takes place. BTW -> In Poland the character of young Donald is named "Doniek" whcih is a cutesy way of saying Donald.

I didn't read this many Donald Duckling stories but I was in general supprise by the lack of younger versions of other supporting characters (other then Grandma Duck) but at the same time it makes the whole thing much more things rather if the whole things was "Duckburg kids"... Than agian I recall one story when little Donald was wearing the Duck Avenger costume...

Here is a interesting article I dig up some time ago (nothing new but just neat count down of all the times Della/Dumbella/Thelma was mentioned)

http://goofy313g.free.fr/calisota_online/Characters/della.html

Quote from user: Mr. MI didn't read this many Donald Duckling stories but I was in general supprise by the lack of younger versions of other supporting characters (other then Grandma Duck) but at the same time it makes the whole thing much more things rather if the whole things was "Duckburg kids"... Than agian I recall one story when little Donald was wearing the Duck Avenger costume...
I'm glad they went this way and made new characters. "Everyone as children!" is a bit silly and too Disney Babies. This is much more realistic. Now if they'd get back together in the present, I'd like to see that. But I've seen Scrooge and his butler in Donald Duckling stories. And Inducks says there's also a little Gladstone Gander.

Ah, thanks, Mr. M, I now read GeoX's blog all the time, and have read many of the archives, but I didn't realize he had reviewed this story of Rota's. So Rota's story is not terribly coherent, family-relationship-wise. HDL are left with Donald by Della/Dumbella, who is said to be Donald's cousin, not his sister--though as you and GeoX point out, it's pretty mysterious how he could have a cousin when he was a foundling with no known family of origin. But if Della is not Donald's sister, that would at least explain why Della wasn't living at Grandma's farm with him. (Though the if/then probably actually went the other way for Rota, i.e.: there is no sister on the farm with Donald in the Donald Duckling stories, therefore Della can't have been Donald's sister; I'll make her his cousin.) Then, of course, it would follow that HDL are not actually Donald's nephews, but his cousins once removed ("once removed" being a generational step downward; it has nothing to do with in-laws). And maybe only *that* through his adoption, not by blood.
And I wonder if Gladstone is presented as Donald's cousin, either in the Paperino Paperotto stories or in Rota's birthday story? Again, there's the question of how someone could be known to be Donald's cousin if Donald was a foundling. Maybe, as you suggest, Della (and Gladstone) could be grandchildren or great-niece/nephew of Grandma Duck, and thus "cousins" by adoption.
I'm aware that the Europeans long thought that Grandma and Scrooge were siblings (no one then knew about Barks' family tree!), and that they were presented as siblings in European stories. Reading American comics, I never thought that. For one thing, Scrooge was clearly Scottish, while Grandma did not seem Scottish. So though I never tried to figure out a family tree for the ducks, I think I assumed that Scrooge and Grandma were from different sides of Donald's family.
It's interesting that Polish has different words for nephew-through-brother and nephew-through-sister. At least everybody--Europeans and Americans, Barks and Rosa and Rota and all--agrees that it was HDL's mother, not their father, who was some sort of relative of Donald's and who left the boys with him.

Really? DuckTales portrayed Scrooge as an only child? How funny! Did Scrooge leave open the possibility that he had a baby sibling when he was older, or is the "only child" status stated absolutely?

Maybe so but Catfish and Angus are both riverboat captains.