Provoking curiosity and stimulating conversations.
"People living with dementia can do so much and books like these can support people to continue reading for pleasure.”
Open Ended Books is our new publishing initiative, set up for people living with dementia, their family and friends.
All of the content, design and activities have been developed together with people living with dementia and experts in the field. Instead of reminiscence and looking back, all our work focuses on the Imagination Model, living in the moment and what people can achieve.
Alongside the accessible design, it's been important to us to keep the content rich, with illustrations and story-telling to connect readers and their families through creativity.
We hope our books spark conversation when read together and inspire creativity and curiosity to help improve wellbeing and quality of life.
“With dementia we lose our short-term memory, but you don’t lose your intelligence and that is a big thing people don’t realise, the desire to learn and stretch yourself doesn’t go away.
"Reading has changed for me, I find I cannot remember what I’ve read if I come back to a book so have to read it all in one go. If reading becomes frustrating and you don’t know these books are available to you, there’s the risk people will stop reading, stop doing something they enjoy. Gill, 71, lives with dementia and is a member of the user-led research group
“I like the bits that make you think and the bits that help you to spot things. There’s enough information to make it interesting but not so much that I'd struggle to read it.”
Our first title is Bewick Tales, an uplifting book exploring the life and work of the world-famous artist and engraver Thomas Bewick (1753-1828). The David Attenborough of his day, Bewick was fascinated with the natural world around him, creating detailed prints of animals, birds and life in Northumberland.
Providing a shared reading experience, the book has an easy to follow narrative, rich with intriguing details and illustrations.
With an individual stories on every two-page spread, the book aims to provoke curiosity and conversations and encourage reading for pleasure.
