Can children’s books keep aging minds engaged?

My mom began her career as a reading teacher and later taught fifth-graders at a public school in the Bronx, New York. She shared her love of books with me and with her students. Long after she retired, she continued to read a wide range of genres.

A year ago, at age 91, signs of dementia appeared. Shortly afterward, her reading habit ceased. Focusing on several words on a page became difficult.

On a recent visit, I gave my mom the children’s picture book “Pedal, Balance, Steer: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World,” by Vivian Kirkfield. She opened it immediately while her aide and I watched how engrossed she became. After she finished, she told us exactly about Londonderry’s life. She seemed hooked.

Observing her made me question if picture books would spark her interest in reading again. I work as a journalist, mostly covering health. I looked for studies focusing on dementia and reading children’s books. I found one showing a connection linking frequent reading to a reduced risk of cognitive decline in older adults.

While it’s good to know reading reduces the risk of dementia, that study didn’t answer my questions about children’s books. I decided to ask the experts.

“I haven’t seen any evidence-based studies on this,” said Michal Schnaider Beeri, director of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center. “Reading a children’s book is similar to that of music. Just as familiar music can engage Alzheimer’s patients, prompting them to sing, move and enjoy themselves, reading a book can have a similar effect.”

She’s heard anecdotes, but nothing scientifically based. “It’s possible to hear positive responses from clinicians who have witnessed dementia patients sharing examples of how reading plays a vital role for people with dementia,” she explained. “Other clinicians won’t have the same positive results. Reading that children’s book could have sparked a memory for your mom since she spent years reading children’s books.”

Pamela Gray, activities director at White House Healthcare Center (a nursing home in New Jersey), agreed that the children’s book my mom read might have tapped into a memory. “She read children’s books to her students and enjoyed reading children’s books on her own,” she said. “It’s familiar.”

The large print, few words on a page, and the art that breaks up those words make reading easier. At the nursing home where she works, Gray explained the books in the library are large print and words are spaced apart, making it easier to read.

The books are “like singing old familiar songs such as ‘Oh Susannah,’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ and holiday classics. Often you hear those songs at senior centers because we grew up singing them and many of us remember all of the words.”

As we age, reading becomes difficult for some. Eyesight can dim, and some forms of dementia make it hard to focus. Children’s books, large-type novels, and magazines and newspapers, where stories are broken up with photographs and ads, make reading easier.

“Reading is a powerful activity for individuals of any age, but it is especially important as we age,” said, Joel Frank, licensed clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist at Duality Psychological Services. “Even if individuals with dementia have declined in their reading and attention abilities, reading any book, even children’s books that tend to be more visually stimulating and contain simpler words, helps stimulate the brain. Reading can be a powerful tool or activity for individuals facing cognitive decline and is something I typically recommend following dementia evaluations.”

The daughter of one of Frank’s clients who has early-onset dementia brought children’s classics to the nursing home to read with her mother. These were stories the client used to read to her daughter.

“The familiar narratives and illustrations from the childhood books offered the client comfort and a tangible connection to her past,” Frank explained. “This engagement with familiar stories helped maintain her language skills and provided shared experiences with her family, creating new memories while cherishing the old ones. The activity blended past and present, fostering emotional bonds and cognitive stimulation.”

Another client, according to Frank, found solace in poetry. “Initially, her family noticed her growing detachment and frustration with complex conversations,” he said. “Introducing short poems into her daily routine became a turning point. The rhythm and familiarity of the verses provided a comforting structure, helping to soothe her anxiety.”

Frank continued, “Reading poetry aloud became a shared activity with her family, sparking moments of joy and a sense of accomplishment. This simple yet profound engagement with poetry not only improved the client’s mood but also seemed to slow her retreat into isolation, bridging the gaps dementia had created in her life.”

In my mom’s case, children’s books were familiar. Frank, Gray, and Schnaider Beeri believe familiarity plays a role. Frank mentioned a client with vascular dementia who was passionate about wildlife. His family introduced him to wildlife magazines to reconnect to his interests.

You can also try e-reading devices, which allow readers to adjust type size. Reading lights, book holders and audiobooks are good options, too. Reading aloud to your family member or friend is another way to bring you closer together.