Product Description
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. This read-aloud book is the perfect way for family members or friends to visit or for caregiving staff to get to know residents.
The easy-to-read text and colorful pictures encourage conversation and inspire pleasant feelings about common experiences, both present and past: the smell of coffee in the morning, holding hands, feeling a warm breeze. 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 Wishing on a Star is an instant activity—no planning or preparation 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 — or just use your own creativity! Here is a natural and unlimited opportunity to rebuild connections for the person with dementia, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and related disorders.
A Two-Lap Book® is a registered trademark of the author.
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.”
Administrator –
“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
Administrator –
“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
Administrator –
“. . . a book especially recommended to for [sic] anyone having to cope with Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke and other memory-damaging disorders. With simple, colorful illustrations enhancing a deftly written, informed and informative text, Lydia Burdick’ [sic] ‘Wishing On a Star’ is thoroughly ‘reader friendly’ and a fine addition to any personal or public library collections.”
–The Midwest Book Review
Administrator –
“Wishing On a Star is not only a book to share with our loved one, but a gentle educational tool to help all of us in our journey through the emotional maze [of] Alzheimer’s and dementia.”
–Edie Dykeman, Elder Care Cafe Blog,http://www.eldercarecafe.net/wishing-on-a-star-book-review.html#more-1412
Administrator –
“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
Administrator –
“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
Administrator –
“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
Administrator –
“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: Alzheimers, Portrait of an Epidemic
Administrator –
“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