Grandma Forgets: the picture book helping children understand dementia
According to Alzheimer’s Australia, an estimated 413,106 Australians currently live with dementia, and there are around 244 new cases reported each day. Sadly, this means it’s more likely than ever that each and every one of our lives will be affected in some way by this cruel disease.
And when we, as adults, have such difficulty coming to terms with it, how can we explain it to the kids in our lives? Well, one author may have just found a way.
Grandma Forgets is a picture book offering a gentle and positive yet realistic look into the changes children might expect to see in their older loved one suffering from dementia. Written by Paul Russell and illustrated by Nicky Johnston, this beautiful story will make any child – no matter whether or not their grandparent has dementia – thankful for the precious bond they share with Nan and Pop.
To find out more about this heart-warming book, Over60 spoke to the author, Paul Russell, about what inspired him and how he hopes others can learn from it.
“When I first wrote the book, I didn’t really think about it being about dementia,” he explains. “My daughter had found photographs of my grandmother, who in the last few years of her life had dementia, and later Alzheimer’s, so I was just sharing stories about her.”
“It was interesting, in sharing the stories with my girls, I actually started to remember the things that were before [her illness] and beyond it. When I was sharing the stories and memories of my grandmother with my children, it became something that was just a part of her – she was forgetful.”
Paul says the reaction to the book, which began as something so personal to him, has been completely unexpected and humbling. “It’s been really positive. It was very much our intent when we wrote it to not have it as a sad story.”
“What I found is that the people who are coming up to me are saying it’s their parents who have the illness. They’re often talking about the positive memories they have of their parent. It’s become this really big catalyst for people sharing positive memories.”
“It’s been quite overwhelming for me, with people coming up to me and being so willing to share their parent’s life, and their children being so willing to talk about their memories of their grandparents.”
Initially, Paul admitted he had no idea the story would resonate with so many. “It was my story, and then Nicky Johnston, when she illustrated it, illustrated herself as the girl, and that was the first time I was able to see it as a bigger story – and I hadn’t really considered it to be a story that was so universally relatable.”
“When I actually compiled the book, I suddenly started to read it from the father’s point of view, and I started to see how much it impacted my parents and how much they sort of shielded a lot of the illness from me – they wanted me to still have that relationship with my grandmother. So it became a lot more than just MY story.”
But the beautiful book isn’t just for those who have had a loved one deal with dementia – it’s a celebration of the precious bond between a child and their grandparents. “I’ve had a number of people come up to me in tears afterwards talking about how much it touched them and I didn’t realise it would.”
“I was really unprepared for the impact it would have on people and even people that haven’t known someone with dementia – just the whole relationship with the grandma or grandpa seems to be such a universal thing. Even people who haven’t been touched by the illness are still able to touch in with that idea of the love between a grandchild and a grandparent.”
Paul believes the book will go a long way towards explaining such a complex condition using positive language and a format that children can appreciate and understand. “I think the biggest thing the book’s been able to do quite successfully is start that conversation.”
“Children seem to be really resilient in that they seem to be able to cope with a lot of things and a lot the time, parents are just after something to try and explain what’s happening or share what’s happening or try and look at some sort of positive that’s coming out of a lot of the negativity surrounding this illness.”
Grandma Forgets is available from www.ekbooks.org and wherever great books are sold.