Weeds in Nana's Garden — Explaining Dementia to Children

When a grandparent or family member receives a dementia diagnosis, children in the household are often among the most affected — and the least equipped with language to process what they are seeing. Behavioral changes, memory lapses, and shifts in personality can be frightening or confusing without an explanation that meets a child where they are.

Weeds in Nana's Garden offers caregivers a structured, story-based way to start that conversation. The gardening metaphor is warm and concrete enough for young children to grasp, and the story models an emotional response — love and continued care despite change — that gives children a framework for their own feelings. The Q&A section at the back, developed in collaboration with both the Alzheimer Society of Toronto and real children, adds a layer of practical usefulness that most picture books in this category lack. It anticipates the questions children actually ask, rather than the ones adults assume they will ask.