How do you explain to children about dementia? Injuries or illnesses are obvious, but when the problem is the brain which isn't functioning quite as it used to it isn't as easy to grasp. Frank was a normal nine year old and like many nine year olds what he wanted was a new bike. He'd had his for about seventy-eight years and he didn't want to raise the seat any more. Mum pointed out that it wasn't his birthday or Christmas any time soon and bikes cost a lot of money, which didn't grow on trees. His sister Lottie had a solution: Frank could help her with her paper round. Frank agreed despite thinking that it would take him a thousand years to save up the money for a bike AND he had to get up at six o'clock in the morning.
| Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres | |
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| Category: Dyslexia Friendly | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A gentle introduction to dyslexia. Jonathan Meres deals with the subject with sensitivity and wisely uses a stranger as the example rather than a family member which removes emotion from the equation. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 104 | Date: June 2019 |
| Publisher: Bariington Stoke | |
| ISBN: 978-1781128695 | |
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But it was the paper round which brought him into contact with an old lady. Howdy, Pardners she would say and there was frequent use of Yee-haw! She dressed like a cowboy and said that she lived in Primrose Avenue - but Frank and Lottie knew exactly where she lived and it wasn't Primrose Avenue, so when they met her in the playground they decided they had better take her home.
It's a gentle, kindly way of introducing children to dementia as well as being a lovely story about helping others and cross-generational friendships. Jonathan Meres deals with the subject sensitively and I was pleased that he didn't introduce a beloved grandparent with dementia, which would have brought emotion into the equation. This was a simple, unthreatening example of what can happen to some people as they get older.
There's a bonus too: the book is dyslexia friendly and even for people who don't have dyslexia it does make reading easier. The book is published on cream paper which is easy on the eye and thick enough that you don't get bleed through from the back. The font used encourages you to read on and the spacing (and lack of text justification) means that it's easy to keep your place on the page.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the Book to the Bookbag.
You might also enjoy The Story of Matthew Buzzington by Andy Stanton. It's not dyslexia-friendly, but you might also appreciate Really and Truly: A Story About Dementia by Emilie Rivard and Anne-Claire Deslisle.
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