Can anyone recommend book(s) that the PWD would enjoy?

markus8174

My beloved has been in a long term care facility for  1 1/2 years. Still knows me and can pick out members of the family from photos (no one else visits).. The problem is "self entrtainment". She can still read a little but gets frustrated with trying to read the newsapaper. Has anyone run across books that would be appealing to an adult, but with very limited text. Every one I see like this is either 8-10 pages long, or a children's book that my beloved wouldn't even pick up. Some text would be beneficial. She spends a lot of time just reading signs and labels around the floor. "Laundry humm, that must be where they wash clothes here."

M1

Markus, a thoughtful friend recently gave us some very short little animal stories that my animal-loving partner has very much enjoyed.  I'll get the titles and get back to you.  They have pictures, and she loves looking at the pictures as much as anything.  Her ability to read anything very long has gone by the wayside but these seem to appeal to her.

ladyzetta

Hi Markus,

Would you beloved be interested in magazines, most of them have a lot of pictures. Like Good Housekeeping, Flower Gardens, find things that she was interested in.

 Like M1 recommended books about Animals. When my DH was in MC I would take his Rifleman magazines down and they were shared with many. I bet your wife loves seeing you, please take care of yourself. Hugs Zetta 

Rescue mom

Magazines, with lots of pictures and a few paragraphs or a page of  captions. Something like National Geographic, or one targeted at her interests—almost every animal has its own magazine, such as horses, birds, dogs and breeds, etc. There are mags about flowers and plants, gardening. 

Or “celebrity” mags, now pictures of people with captions. Or any interest, such as cars or boating (for my DH). He lost the ability to read books very early, but enjoyed looking at magazines with pictures of boats much longer—still does, kind of….

M1

Marcus, the three books that my partner keeps by her bed to look at are:

Dog Songs, by Mary Oliver;

and two Time-Life books:  How Dogs Think, and Cats:  Companions in Life.  She seems to really enjoy all three.  Hope that's something you can use---

fireflies

Marcus, my husband is still at home and is probably between stage five and six.  His world is shrinking as his ability to read books and play computer games diminishes.  When he goes to bed he often reads before sleep.  He is currently reading David Eddings “The Belgariad”. Before he was reading the Harry Potter series.  

I’m not recommending these books but using them as examples.  I/he have tried in the past to read new books of simpler story plots or topics but he can’t follow the story line. His short term memory doesn’t let him remember the story line.  But these two series of books are a favorite from his past that he has read before and more than once.  With Harry Potter he read the series plus saw the movies.

So maybe if she had a favorite book in the past especially if it’s not too complicated she may be interested in reading that.  Maybe even “Charlotte’s Web”.  I recommend the last book as I remember that as a child and wouldn’t mind hearing that story again myself.

Lynne D

My HWD prefers to sit and stare, and generally does not even watch TV anymore. He was, however, enchanted by The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse not Charles Mackey. I, as well, am enchanted by it and refer to it often.

Stuck in the middle

I love books of cartoons, collections of those 3-panel cartoons that have been published in newspapers.  Pickles, Beetle Bailey, Fox Trot, Andy Capp, whatever.  Written for adults, but little memory or attention span required.  9 Chickweed Lane is written by and for women, she might enjoy it.

I keep some cartoon books in my bedroom.  If I'm brooding and can't sleep, I read one until I'm laughing, and then I can sleep.

Hope this helps

Nanpav

Hi Markus. Memories can be a wonderful springboard for writing your own simple stories. Or perhaps you could get friends and family to use a picture of an event your LO experienced to write a story. 

A book I used to read to my husband was called, “Among the Hidden”. It was written for teens I think, but he was able to follow it and it wasn’t childish. Hope this helps.