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I just wanted to say thank you again for your fantastic books.  My mum has dementia and has been living in a residential home for a couple of years.  I have bought two of your books 'In the Garden' and 'By the Seaside' and have spent many hours looking through the books with mum.  When I visited her on Saturday my sisters and my great-niece, Lydia who is 6 were also visiting.  I got the books out and Lydia proceeded to read the books with mum, her great-grandmother.  It was lovely to see them together.  I think this shared experience was very important, both parties felt they were contributing and they engaged with each other.  It was great to see.  Thank you, your books give so much.

Daughter of a lady with dementia.

I purchased the books for my mother, who lives in a care home and has dementia.  The first book I bought was 'In the Garden'.  I took the book on each visit and we would look through the book together, she reads the words out loud and we talk about the pictures.  I have now left that book with her and bought 'Beside the Seaside' for me to take on visits.

She obviously gets a great deal of enjoyment from the words and pictures and a sense of achievement from reading the words.  I also enjoy looking at the books, it makes my visits more entertaining for me to have something to talk about which I know won't upset or disturb my mum.  Thank you.

Daughter of a lady with dementa.

Every time I visit my father, who has Alzheimer's and is in a care home, we read The Countryside in Pictures together.  We both love it - the choice of text and pictures gives it an appeal wider than its target audience.  It makes us laugh, inspires song and sometimes makes us cry at the beauty of some of the words and images.  I have just bought some other titles and am really looking forward to reading them with him at the weekend.  Thank you.

Daughter of gentleman with Alzheimer's

Oh how my spirits lifted when my dear friend Till, opened 'Childhood' and I watched her delicate fingers touch the daisy chains in the inside cover.  Lifting her head to look at me, she said "it's beautiful Margaret thank you".  Then we talked of how she had to make a lot of daisy chains for her younger sisters.  Till slowly turned the pages and read aloud to me so confidently.  We spent a most beautiful and interesting hour together, I had been allowed to enter her world; leaving me feeling very humble.

Thank you for your books I have passed your catalogue on.

Lady of a friend with dementia

My Grandad suffers with mild dementia, however the books proved a great source for him.  I bought Childhood in Pictures and he was thrilled looking at the pictures.

I was surprised at how he related to the pictures.

The picture of the boy getting out of bed to watch the trains made him comment on "how it looks like him".  He was also taken by the picture of the two friends with their arms around each other, as did the child asleep in bed with the teddy bear.  He kept going back to those picutures.

The picture of the boys fishing was the most surprising which allowed him to talk of a particular time and incident when he went fishing.  This was a story I had never heard him tell before!

Nick Hudd, Grandson of gentleman with dementia

I bought the books for my father who has dementia.  Even though we have only had the books for a few days, they have already proved their worth!

My mother has found that the carers enjoy using them, and they really help the respite volunteers to break the ice.  My father enjoys the pictures very much - we all do!

I bought the books after reading the article in The Guardian, and am so glad I did. 

Daughter of Gentleman with dementia

 Mum has quite advanced dementia and has forgotten the words for most things.  However, she enjoys the pictures (she used to be an artist herself), particularly the brightly coloured ones.  She makes comments like: "I like that", "She looks happy" and "That's my favourite" etc.

The books are definitely beneficial to her and we have looked at them over and over again together.

Mrs S Thomas, daughter of lady with dementia

My father, for whom the book was a present, as had Alzheimers for about 7 years.  Over the last year I have relied heavily on picture books as an activity we can enjoy together. He has limited speech so now makes little verbal response to pictures but body language, smiles and counting indicate enjoyment.  I think the book is excellent and my regret is that I didn't know about them earlier. Thank you.

Daughter of gentleman with Alzheimers

"My mum read out loud and recited some of the poems from memory.  Very emotional for both of us - my mother can make very little conversation due to vascular dementia, but the poems just flowed word perfect from her long-term memory.  I had not heard her put so many words together for ages.

Daughter of lady with Vascular Dementia

"I was impressed by how much pleasure Mum got from the books. Conversation flowed more easily when we were looking at the pictures and I was reading the words. When I was looking at the books with her, I felt as though we were communicating more as we used to, before dementia developed. You have devised a valuable means of communication for people with dementia and the people who look after them."

Daughter of lady with dementia. N Wales

"I came across your books and bought one for Bill, my Dad, who lives with me, is 91 and has dementia. He used to love reading but has lost all interest and the ability to make sense even of illustrations. I had tried children's books but they were clearly not of interest.

Your books absolutely fascinate him. He reads them every day and shows everyone who visits. The carers read through them with him daily and his depression is lifting. He says he feels ‘normal' again now he can read. Thank you so much!"

Daughter of gentleman with dementia. Staffordshire