Simple books that help people with dementia keep a love of reading
A BOOK for people with dementia goes on sale today to help thousands rediscover the joy of reading.
Key features include pages that make sense without needing to remember the overall storyline, simple text and thicker paper to help with turning pages.
Looking Back At…The Beatles was created by Matt Singleton after his dad Brian lost his passion for reading following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
Matt, 49, said: “All my memories really – apart from Dad working very hard and loving his football – are him being on holiday and reading, always having a book in his hand.
“It made me sad Dad wasn’t reading any more. I wrote him a simple book with some rhyme and rhythm about his 1950s rock and roll heroes.
“Six months later, my stepmum Colleen said to me: ‘He doesn’t put it down, he reads it all the time’.” Matt has a background in gerontology, the study of ageing. He developed his idea into a book that charts The Beatles’ story from Hamburg in the 1960s until their split.
With encouragement from leading dementia experts, he successfully applied to join the Alzheimer’s Society’s Accelerator Programme.
The dad-of-two worked with experts and people with dementia to perfect the book’s design and launch a publishing company, Cognitive Books.
Matt hopes to publish a second title this year. He added: “I’ve learnt so much and met so many wonderful people with so much experience.
“People with dementia have many beautiful stories to tell. The dream is to have as many titles as possible.”
The book’s features also include paper and font colours that make reading easier and an audio version narrated by Bill Nighy. The actor, 74, said he was “grateful to be given an opportunity to help in any small way with this dreadful condition that afflicts so many of us directly or indirectly”.
He added: “I hope these books can be a valuable addition to the treatment already in place and bring the same satisfaction they might in normal circumstances. I salute those involved in this project.” Brian still cherishes an early copy his son gave him on Father’s Day in 2022.
Matt added: “A few weeks ago, we discovered he could recite one of the passages from the book. Bearing in mind my dad can’t remember what he had for breakfast, or what he did 15 minutes before, it was a wonderful moment.”
Cognitive Books will donate 5% of all sales to the Alzheimer’s Society.
● Looking Back At…The Beatles is available from bookstores or online at cognitivebooks.co.uk/buybooks