5 Books to Help Kids Understand Alzheimer’s

It’s never easy for a family to cope and take care of an aging loved one with Alzheimer’s.

But Alzheimer’s can be especially confusing to children who can’t understand why Grandma, who still looks normal, is no longer able to instantly recognize familiar people and places.

There are several books that put the disease into terms children can relate to in order to help our little ones get a better grasp of what Alzheimer’s is and how it affects elderly family members.

Below is a list of five of our favorites, compiled from a recent AARP blog post and one of our own.

• The Memory Box–A grandpa diagnosed with Alzheimer’s creates a “memory box” to keep track of all the times he’s shared with his beloved grandson. By Mary Bahr. Illustrations by David Cunningham.
• Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator?–After several incidents of strange behavior, a young girl named Julie finally begins to understand her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease. By Max Wallack and Carolyn Given.
• Still My Grandma–This story gently introduces the realities of Alzheimer’s to young readers through the special relationship of a girl and her grandmother. By Veronique Van Den Abeele. Illustrations by Claude K. Dubois.
• Remember Me?–Told from a child’s perspective, a young girl slowly begins to understand why her grandfather’s memory is so unreliable. By Sue Glass. Translation by Eida de La Vega. Illustrations by W. Yunker.
• Singing with Momma Lou–A young girl stops dreading visiting her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s in a nursing home after she begins to learn about her extraordinary past. By Linda Jacobs Altman. Illustrations by Larry Johnson.

Though it’s never easy to cope with a loved one getting Alzheimer’s, you can make the experience much easier on young children in the family by helping them understand what their aging loved on is going through. And all of these books should help to do just that.

Can you think of any other books you recommend that help children understand Alzheimer’s? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments.

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