WHY CAN'T GRANDMA REMEMBER MY NAME?

In question-and-answer format, a bibliotherapeutic introduction to Alzheimer’s for young children.

Published by an Alzheimer’s research institute (for which this is also a fundraiser), this book has a clear purpose but is constrained by it; the authors do not discuss other types of dementia, for instance. Following an opening scenario in which a child’s voice describes Grandma’s newly strange behavior, the questions and answers take readers through the basics about the disease. Some of the questions feel very genuine (“Grandma sometimes gets angry.…What’s going on?”) while others (“How does the brain normally work?”) seem constructed to deliver the information the authors feel is necessary. The information presented is by and large accessible to children, but a decision not to explain what “plaques and tangles” are but rather describe what they do may prompt questions that will force readers to consult another resource, as there is no glossary. The most striking feature of this book is the artwork. Each question and answer is given one double-page spread, with a painting by a child accompanying the question and an artfully harmonizing painting by an Alzheimer’s patient accompanying the answer.

While purposive, a useful and even beautiful book to offer the many children whose families are affected.