Helping children understand dementia

A picture book about memory loss and ageing

Jane Fagan | Oct 7 2016 | comment

Newspaper Hatsby Phil Cummings, illustrated by Owen Swan
written for ages 2-7 | highly recommended
published in 2016 | Charlesbridge | 32 pages

The subject of memory loss and ageing is dealt with very well in the book Newspaper Hats.

The main character, Georgia, is a little girl who visits her Grandpa in a nursing home. Grandpa, sadly, doesn't remember her. Georgie shows a child-like concern and kindness towards her Grandpa's state of mind. Certain things will trigger a memory for him, but what?

Georgie uses Grandpa's prized hoard of newspapers to encourage him. Read on to discover how she brings out the best of Grandpa's memory through the simple art of making a newspaper hat! Endpapers feature beautiful newspapers from bygone eras.

Illustrations are predominantly pastel colours of sunshine-lemon, light purple, and blue. The illustrator skillfully brings out emotions of happiness and cheer with deft strokes of the pencil reminiscent of a black and white newspaper. When there is sadness it is not portrayed in a way that darkens the overall optimistic message of the book - it is subtle and not overwhelming.

Family and friends are shown gathering together with Grandpa in the normality of family interaction - singing, clapping a new baby on “Mrs Carlton’s lap”, and interacting with each other.

The overall feeling is one of child-like simplicity and cheerfulness.

A former children's librarian, Jane Fagan is currently a full-time wife and mother of two.

What would the world be like without those people whose soft features, almond eyes and often mischievous sense of humour we tend to associate with Down syndrome? That is the question posed by British actress Sally Phillips in a short piece todayabout her stand against the “arms race” against unborn babies with Down’s.

I don’t know anything about Ms Phillips as an actress, but she strikes me as a pretty good human being for putting her popularity on the line in the interests of this very vulnerable group of our little brothers and sisters -- and their mothers, so often poorly informed and browbeaten into “terminating”. There’s a very cute video clip with the article showing her son Olly with his siblings. I am sure you will enjoy it.

Good luck, East Coast Americans in the path of Hurricane Matthew! I am sure everyone in the MercatorNet community will be praying for you.