Marika and the Auctionby Helen Metella, Illustrated by Hannah Kate MillerPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Sally Meadows$24.95 ISBN 9781778690679 It might be easy to confuse Marika and the Auction with a children’s book. It is a typical picture book size and shape with approximately the same number of pages plus colourful, amusing illustrations. But there is one fundamental difference: this book is a “storybook for seniors” intended for adults with memory problems. Author Helen Metella wrote this book specifically for adults with dementia as inspired by, and for, her own mother. Unlike most children’s books, the star of the story is an adult. The setting is in the 1970s, when many individuals now in their eighties had young kids and a lively, energetic life. From fashion to tableware to home décor to the challenges of raising children, this book is replete with details that may trigger personal memories of older adults. This in turn may lead to precious conversations about their lives that their families will treasure. At the start of the story, Marika, a resourceful mother of five, longs to have a sleek, sophisticated home where her children can blossom. Knowing that they are on a tight…

Why Not Now?by Denise Leduc, Illustrated by Karin SköldPublished by Lilac Arch PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$17.99 ISBN 9781778286933 I experienced quite the shock when I began Denise Leduc’s new book, Why Not Now? I’d recently reviewed the Aylesbury, Saskatchewan writer’s thoughtful children’s books—Poppies, Poppies Everywhere! and Letting Charlie Bow Go—and assumed this newest softcover was also for young readers. I dived right in—without reading the back cover text—and a glance at the large, well-spaced font also supported my notion that I was about to read a junior novel. Thus, the book’s first paragraph gave me a jolt: “Arriving at the Vancouver airport, Frank felt reinvigorated … He was glad his son, John, had insisted on coming.” What the …? I flipped to the back cover. Surprise! Leduc had me laughing at the genre-flip and my own presumption; Why Not Now? is a hi-lo (high interest/low reading level) book for older readers, ie: seniors with dementia. It’s also part of a series of hi-lo titles described as “heartwarming tales … especially crafted for people experiencing cognitive impairment.” With Sköld’s soft and uncluttered wildlife (bear, eagle), landscape and activity-based illustrations appearing between each of the short chapters; an engaging, intergenerational family…