You won’t find a simpler way to interact meaningfully and enjoyably with someone with memory impairment! Just sit down together, open this colorful and engaging book across both laps, and begin reading, reminiscing, and communing.
The second book in the Two-Lap Book® series, Happy New Year to You! celebrates each month of the year with colorful illustrations and short, easy-to-read text. Individuals with memory impairment and their caregivers will enjoy the familiar and friendly images: rain showers in April, weddings in June, school days in September. Pictures and text together will spark boundless opportunities to discuss and remember happy times and comforting experiences.
Styled with the appeal and simplicity of a children’s book but created for adult audiences, this Two-Lap Book can serve multiple purposes:
-
- Stimulate conversation and reminiscence
- Encourage physical closeness and interaction
- Provide a calming diversion from an upsetting episode
- Inspire intergenerational exchanges with children
- Increase social interaction between staff and residents
Promote reading skills in residents who retain their literacy
Reading Happy New Year to You! is an instant activity—no planning or preparation is required. Open it to a favorite illustration…read it from start to finish…or select just a page or two to spark an exchange. Tips on how to promote engagement with the book are provided, as well as song suggestions for each illustration!
Here is a natural and unlimited opportunity to rebuild connections for the people with dementia, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and related disorders.
A Two-Lap Book® is a trademark owned by Lydia Burdick.
With a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, Lydia Burdick’s career has been in human resources. She is president of her own executive search firm, and communicates about making lifestyle choices that minimize risk of Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Lydia wrote the first Two-Lap Book®, The Sunshine on My Face: A Read-Aloud Book for Memory-Challenged Adults, in the course of caring for her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. “One of my greatest pleasures,” she says, “was sitting next to my mother and hearing her read the words from this book when she had stopped speaking almost completely.”
admin –
“I searched and searched … for a simple picture book written for the Alzheimer’s patient, but all the books were for caregivers. Finally I contacted the National Alzheimer’s Association, and their librarian steered me to [Lydia Burdick’s] wonderful books, which I ordered for my Mom, and she read them about 100 times, with aides helping.”
-Eliezer Sobel, author of picture book Blue Sky, White Clouds, http://www.blueskywhiteclouds.com
admin –
“I used to buy children’s books with big pictures, big words, about animals for my mother, who has advanced dementia. Now to be able to have a book with pictures and words with somebody her age sitting on a chair enjoying the sunset — it’s a really inspired idea.”
-Jill Eikenberry, a New York-based actress
admin –
“With its warm, friendly, and upbeat style, this is an appealing picture book to share with a person with Alzheimer’s or other memory impairment.”
–Family Caregiver Alliance Update
admin –
“A wonderful way to engage with a memory-impaired adult”
-Peter Rabins, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co-author of The 36-Hour Day
admin –
“Lydia Burdick’s book series is fulfilling an unmet need for reading materials for older persons with memory problems. Our research indicates that these are the kinds of reading materials which these persons may prefer to read at some point in the course of their condition.”
-Barry Reisberg, M.D., Clinical Director, Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University School of Medicine
admin –
“Read and share this amazing heart touching book … it will make everyone happier, wise, and better equipped to communicate”
-Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of, #1 New York Times best selling series Chicken Soup for the Soul® and co-author of Cracking the Millionaire Code and The One Minute Millionaire
admin –
“With her unique books, Lydia Burdick brings families closer together–she helps bridge the chasm created by senile dementia.”
-David Shenk, author of The Forgetting: Alzheimer’s, Portrait of an Epidemic
admin –
“An enchanting way to instantly create closeness, spark recognition, and share moments of joy with a memory-challenged loved one.”
-Jacqueline Marcell, B.S., author of Elder Rage, and host of Coping With Caregiving radio program
admin –
“It was exciting to see the second Two-Lap Book. I shared this book with patients and caregivers at my nursing home and assisted living facility, and it was met with uniform excitement.”
-Bernard A. Roos, M.D., Professor, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Director, the Stein Gerontological Institute at the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged