Interviews
"Shortly after meeting Child’s Play I began visiting an inspiring lady - Meg, who was living with dementia. She and her lovely family were instrumental in the production of the book as they compassionately shared their own personal struggles, from the point of view of child, parent and grandparent as they navigate their way together on their “dementia journey”. It has become very apparent to me that, while every journey is unique, there are a great deal of mutual struggles faced.
When I started writing Grandma the first thing that felt clear to me was the tone the book should take. It was important to me that it was a simple, real, honest and hopeful representation of the way a relationship can change when someone close to us is living with dementia. This meant, of course, addressing the emotional, and scary aspects of the changing relationship/environment, whilst hopefully providing that important support and encouragement along the way. Ultimately, the aim was to help people feel less alone on a difficult journey that, without communication and sharing, can feel very isolating. It was, therefore, very important that people could directly relate to the characters in the book – as though a friend was telling the story of their dementia journey."
Jessica Shepherd, in a blog post for Booktrust. Source: http://www.bookstart.org.uk/news/blog/228
