Royal Dragonfly Book Award – Honorable Mention for Children’s Picture Books 5 and Younger
“The message paired with the illustrations creates a great introductory conversation for kids that is both comfortable and relatable, easing them into a better understanding of behaviors that accompany most dementias!” Jenni Knutson, Certified Dementia Provider
Little Dreya has been noticing that her grandma is starting to act funny, but she doesn’t know why. Her family explains that all these new funny and strange behaviors are a result of an illness called Alzheimer’s. In this first book, Dreya notices that Grandma forgets her name, loses track of things, and asks questions over and over again. Join Dreya and her whimsical family as she shares a heartwarming story of her memories with Grandma before Alzheimer’s along with the new behaviors she is noticing in the beginning stage of this disease.
More Reviews:
“Trying to help my grandkids understand what was going on with their great grandmother was so difficult. These books opened the door to them understanding more about dementia and what was going on. I would recommend these books for anyone who has a family member with dementia and kids or grandkids who are experiencing the changes the patient undergoes.” Amazon Customer
“I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’ve been around so many patients with this terrible disease as a Paramedic. I could only imagine having to explain to a younger child why their grandmother would do some of these things and them understand fully. This book would do a better job then I ever could to explain that. Of course we all love a good picture books but this book is more than that. It puts things into a perspective that a child can understand. I assume the other 2 books in this series explain the progression of the disease and I can’t wait to read them as well.” Chris L.
Interview with the Authors:
What experience do you have with Alzheimer’s?
Our mother and grandmother both had Alzheimer’s. While being the primary caregiver for our mom, we learned so much about Alzheimer’s. We chronicled the journey with our mom through the Mom Chronicles with our friends and family on social media. We researched various reputable resources, followed various Alzheimer’s caregiving groups, and completed the EssentialALZ Alzheimer’s Association Training. We published our first book sharing tips and tricks for what we learned during each of the seven major stages of Alzheimer’s.
Why did you write this children’s book series?
While doing our research, we noticed that there are not many children’s books on Alzheimer’s. The ones out there are limited in what they could explain within the confines of a single book. We realized that just one book would be too large to try and explain all the various behaviors throughout the three major stages. Because it takes many years to go through the stages, children will see various behaviors throughout the years. We broke the series down into the Beginning, Middle, and Late stages that coincide with how most organizations and medical personnel label them. This series allows a family to choose the most appropriate stage their loved one is experiencing. Families also come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, so we decided to illustrate this series with a whimsical dragon family so that no child will feel left out because their grandma didn’t look like the grandma depicted in the book.
Do you have any other books on Alzheimer’s?
Yes. We have “I Remember Me – The Mom Chronicles, ” a book for caregivers and others who would like to learn how to support a loved one going through Alzheimer’s. We also added a second children’s series called “Grandpa is Acting Funny” so that families can choose a “grandma” or “grandpa” version to fit their family situation best. It is the same as the “grandma” series but is edited slightly to depict a “grandpa.”
