The Little Word Catcher

"The Little Word Catcher" is a new children's book about a granddaughter's growing understanding of the effects that Alzheimer's disease has upon her beloved grandmother. Since her grandmother seems to be losing her words, Elise decides to try to help by "lending " words back to her, and by trying to catch her words with a net as fast as she is losing them. The process Elise is watching in her grandmother is saddening and confusing to her. But with help, she decides that her grandmother has used up her words and is passing them on to her. The words are not lost, instead they are a miraculous gift to the future. "The Little Word Catcher" is very sensitively written for children ages 5-8. Its award winning illustrations are particularly effective, enhancing the story as described in Canada's 2007 Governor General's Award for Illustration: "The technique of successive, reworked photocopies creates a muted, slurry effect that poignantly translates the fading and gradual loss of memory." "The Little Word Catcher" is a finely developed tool to assist children and families in understanding and accepting the erosions of Alzheimer's disease in a beloved, familiar, mature mind and psyche.