Good short stories to read to people with alzheimer?

rmabo

Registered User
May 19, 2019
25
0
As per the title - looking for short stories appropriate for people with alzheimer's. Something happy and upbeat of course.

Doesn't have to be great litterature - just fun stories I can read to make her happy and keep her company. I'd prefer if the material was designed for 'adults' - as I fear i recently introduced too many 'juvenile' things in her life for the sake of simplicity.

Thank you!
 

Bunpoots

Volunteer Host
Apr 1, 2016
7,342
0
Nottinghamshire
As a person who is currently reading the Harry Potter books - again - I don’t personally have a problem with children’s literature. Why don’t you consider the books that would have been familiar to her in her youth? Or some poetry - maybe Lewis Carol or similar?
 

Sarasa

Volunteer Host
Apr 13, 2018
7,195
0
Nottinghamshire
The activities co-ordinator in mum's care home was reading a Michael Morpurgo children's book the other week, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think the trick is finding something that doesn't sound patronising, but is pretty straight-forward narrative wise. Maybe a book of classic short stories might do the trick, and certainly I think poetry is a good idea.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,693
0
certainly I think poetry is a good idea.

Pam Ayres is good as her poems are like short stories and whilst not all the subject matter is what you might initially think of as 'happy and upbeat' (I wish I'd looked after me teeth...) they usually have a funny ending and elicit smiles/laughs, particularly if you read them in a Pam Ayres style accent :)
 

rmabo

Registered User
May 19, 2019
25
0
@bunboots - apologies, I didn't express myself correctly - english is not my first language. For me, harry potter would definitely fall under 'adult' literature because of the complexity of the vocabulary used and the vast storyline. The books i'm trying to avoid are the ones designed for 5-9yo, peppa pigs and the likes, they are too 'childish' even in terms of visuals on the cover and so on and i don't want this to be humiliating for my mother.

Harry potter is actually a good idea, i'll give it a shot.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
I was going to suggest books that she would probably have remembered from her childhood - mum loved me to read the Winnie The Pooh books, but this is probably not appropriate for your mum as it doesnt sound as though she would have met them as a child. Equally, mum came from the generation when school children were expected to memorise famous poems - I found a Golden Treasury of Poems on her bookshelf and quite often if I read a poem to her she could remember it and recite with me as I read it to her.

One book that mum did like from her childhood and I dont think would be considered too childish is Dr Dolittle (the doctor who could speak to animals) by Hugh Lofting
 

Bunpoots

Volunteer Host
Apr 1, 2016
7,342
0
Nottinghamshire
No need to apologise @rmabo I'm not offended. I'd never have guessed your first language wasn't English!

I don't like Peppa Pig either. How about something like "Fox in Socks" by Dr Seuss. I find his books highly entertaining. Or Hans Christian Andersen?
 

Helly68

Registered User
Mar 12, 2018
1,685
0
I am currently reading to my Mum. In the past we tried Phillip Pullman, Shakespeare extracts (her all time fave) and now books designed for children, as her ability to understand changes. Children's books also have large text that she can sometimes read. We enjoy Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. On bad days she dozes and listens to the sound of my reading and on good days she either reads or repeats text from memory.
Poems- buy or search for a general anthology. Good as they are short and anthologies group by theme, so you can choose happy ones. Mummy like The Owl and The Pussycat by Edward Lear. We also tried Green Eggs and ham by Dr Seuss, but she doesn't seem to like this so much. Trial and error based on whatever they used to like seems to work best.
 

Sarasa

Volunteer Host
Apr 13, 2018
7,195
0
Nottinghamshire
You could try your local library and/or bookshop for advice. I'm thinking something like I Was a Rat, Philip Pullman's retelling of Cinderella from the point of view of one of the magicked rats might work. If Cinderella was a story that she knows and used to enjoy. My dad (who didn't have dementia, but who was not a reader either) enjoyed listening to Martin Jarvis read Just William stories. They are short, and fun and the background of life in the first half of the 20th century might be more familiar. I think discovering what she liked in the past and adapting that to something similar might work.
 

creativesarah

Registered User
Apr 22, 2010
9,638
0
Upton Northamptonshire
I have written just such a book, as living with memory loss I struggle with reading novels.
I found I can write with an inside knowledge of how it feels and what stimulates reminiscence
The Book is called The Memory Box and is an ebook, paperback and large print.
It has a photo on the front of a memory box and is blue with black writing on it'

I have had some good reviews on amazon and this is one of them
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2020
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I’m Head if Well Being at a residential and Dementia Care Home. I read one story to my residents on each floor total of 3 floors with varying degrees of dementia I am totally amazed the effect it had, total engagement throughout and recognition to their own lives. Will highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read the other stories. Thank you for an amazing book x

I hope this may be helpful to you pm me if you need more details
 

Eddie299

New member
Apr 17, 2020
1
0
Cyprus
www.reviewsed.com
The activities co-ordinator in mum's care home was reading a Michael Morpurgo children's book the other week, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think the trick is finding something that doesn't sound patronising, but is pretty straight-forward narrative wise. Maybe a book of classic short stories might do the trick, and certainly I think poetry is a good idea.
I usually read classic short stories like The Monkey's Paw, The Cask of Amontillado to my dad. Good for him as per his interest.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
138,144
Messages
1,993,327
Members
89,799
Latest member
GillWife