My Book about Brains, Change and Dementia

This is a book on a very delicate subject, but delivered in a really clear and simple child-friendly way. It allows parents and family members to face the many questions that young children may ask when a family member appears to be suffering from dementia. The subject matter and the words have all been carefully chosen by Dementia Australia family counsellors, so it is good to know that the content is very carefully selected and put together in the most appropriate way. The imagery is simple which lends its focus to the words and the story they are telling.

I thought it was a nice analogy to explain that the brain is no longer able to drive the body, and to point out all the things the young person might have noticed of the person with dementia. It reassures youngsters that it is not their fault that their relative has get sick. Importantly, it deals with the topic of death, but does so with a 'spoiler' so to speak, asking the young person if they are ready to deal with this topic before moving on.

This book has been written really effectively - as a mental health nurse, any book addressing mental health issues and increasing awareness and understanding will definitely have my vote.

There are a lot of subjects that are quite difficult to discuss with a child. One of these is the subject of dementia. It's doubly difficult, actually, since it has to deal with two difficult subjects at once: death, and the matter of the sickness of the brain.

This book manages to explain in a simple, easy way that brain, as all other parts of the human body, can get sick, too. Sometimes it can have an illness for which a cure hasn't been found. Lynda Moore manages to explain all this in a manner that is simple enough for children, yet not childish. It's plain, honest, and, in my opinion, exactly what children need to know about dementia.

A part that I loved about this book is when the author talks about dying. It's not sugar coated, with absolutely no use of baby words. It says everything as needed to be said. What is more, help is provided. "What else helps you feel better?", the author asks the readers. In all honesty, this is a book that can help both children and adults understand more about dementia in simple terms, and assist them in starting to feel better in the stage of grieving.

Great explanation for not only children but adults. Gives wonderful words to explain the brain and what happens to it with dementia so that children can understand. Wonderful!!

This was a good simple explanation of dementia for young kids. Many are likely to experience a grandparents, or great aunt or uncle with dementia as people are living longer and having children at older ages. I like that it allows children to skip the death part of dementia if it scared them. I thought the illustrations were fun. Nothing overly dramatic.

This book is so well done! Every school, every public library, every nursing home, and at home caregivers should have a copy of this book on hand for when needed. The authors do an excellent job of explaining dementia in simple terms that can be understood by kids. It also says it’s okay to have feelings, that everything will be okay. There are even special instructions to the reader about what happens at the end of dementia. If the reader doesn’t want to know, the book tells you to skip the next two pages. This book is amazing well done!! Excellent Job!!

This is an ideal book to help smaller children understand dementia and the impact that it can have on the person that has it. It also addresses how they may feel when someone they know has dementia and how to deal with those feelings.

The illustrations are colourful and fun. They are a clear visual representation of the written word.

I liked that prior to explaining that dementia can ultimately end in death the book gives the child the option of not reading those pages if they don’t want to know. (This can also be a helpful cut off point for the parent who does not feel their child is ready to hear about death)

The bite sized pieces of information are delivered in a compassionate, clear, child-friendly manner.

While this books target audience is the under 5’s I believe that it could be a useful explanation tool for children beyond age 5 too.