Cover Image: A Song in Her Heart

A Song in Her Heart

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Member Reviews

This Book Hits Home! 

My kids were older when their Grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but had they been young I would have wanted to add this to our reading list. Very touching.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the Publisher and was under no obligation to post a favorable review.

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A Song in Her Heart is a beautifully written and illustrated book by Kathy Dye. A Song in Her Heart tells of the journey of a girl who loves music and how it sticks with her throughout her life, even into her Alzheimer's diagnosis. I highly recommend this sweet book. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book, My review is also on Goodreads.

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I enjoyed this children story with all of the characters within. The main character was Josie.

Josie has a song that she sing to everyone that she see through out her life. But later in her life she get sick with Alzheimer's. It is hard for her to remember that song that use to sing. But with the help of her family she get to hear it again.

This was a enjoyable read. The book had colorful illustrations that show us Josie life. What a great story. It was a little bit sad in parts.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

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This story was very powerful and the illustrations are wonderfully beautiful and create a calm sense as one reads them. This book would be perfect for any child who has a family member struggling with Alzheimer's illness and want to make sense of their struggle in a caring and human way that still takes into account the difficulty coming with that .

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Thank you to NetGalley for this copy of “A Song in Her Heart” by Kathy Dye in exchange for a honest review.This is a beautifully written children’s book with a poignant message.It is the story of Josie and how she always has a song in her heart.It is evident through her life as she grows from a little girl to a wife, mother and even great grandmother.Her song and joy is present in all that she does for her family and others.As she develops Alzheimer’s her song goes silent but her family through music helps her to bring joy back into her life.This is a perfect book for early elementary school children.Well written and illustrated.

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I read this book for free in exchange from NetGalley for my honest feedback.

This book at first reminds me of Dolly Partons Coat of Many Colors. But I quickly started tearing up because my grandmother also suffered from Alzheimer's like the grandmother in the book.

This is a beautiful touching story. Thank you.

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Kathy Dye states she wrote this lovely little picture book to help bring about conversations with children affected by loved ones with Alzheimer’s. The story is short but impactful as Josie progresses from childhood to being a great grandmother. The disease takes away her memory so she has no recollection of those closest to her. They learn that Josie responds to music thus the title. The page where Josie, now advanced in age sitting at the table with her back to the family brought tears to my eyes thinking of m own experience with this. 
I highly recommend this picture book to anyone whose life is touched by Alzheimer’s or simply to bring awareness to young ones,
I want to thank the author for writing and sharing her own sad experience but also one who found a way through it and hopes to help others with her work.

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This is a beautiful book. Beautiful story and beautiful illustrations. I can totally relate to this book. It talks about my family and they all had songs in their hearts. Remembering my grandmother and my mother made me cry they both had this disease. So read this book to your children to help them understand what is going on. This book deserves some kind of award.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a.review

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My grandmother passed away in April, it was a slow and then sudden decline where she lost her memory. My daughters and I visited her several times a week and would bring children’s books, books she read to me as a little girl. We took turns reading to her and her to us…it was amazing when she would remember and tell me how she loved this part of some part would make me laugh. This was such a relatable and lovely book. The pictures are just gorgeous. My girls 8 and 9 enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley and Kathy Dye for allowing me the opportunity to enjoy your book in exchange for my opinion.

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Such a short book but so impactful. I didn’t expect it to make me cry. I’m a CNA and have worked with Alzheimer’s patients and music is the last memory to leave. Just like the book says, patients who couldn’t remember where they were or why, knew the songs of their youth. I had one patient who would get more animated when she heard Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. One man who used to dance when he first got there, couldn’t over time but he would still light up when music played.
This book is one woman’s very special journey through life with music, and eventually Alzheimer’s. I highly recommend it to anyone whose life is touched by Alzheimer’s. I want to thank the author for sharing this with us.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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Sing to the Lord a new song: sing to the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 96:1


Josie grew up sharing the song in her heart. Always giving her self to others. In her later years, she did not know her family and friends. However, it was when other shared a song with her, she remembered. Maybe you and your family are experiencing the disease of Alzheimer with someone you love. A great reminder of the hope we have. My own personal experience reminded me that they are still there whether its a song or pictures, I pray for those that are suffering that they know the love of God.

A special thank you to Books Go Social and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

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I have mixed feelings about this book.

I thought the illustrations were gorgeous! They were absolutely beautiful, albeit slightly dull and perhaps not as colourful as I'm used to seeing in more recent picture books. That doesn't have to be a bad thing, though.

However, I felt the story was a little bit too complex for children to understand, and there were a few too many elements to it. The idea of the 'song' I felt could be a little bit confusing to young children. Also, there were paragraphs on some pages which I feel might bore some kids and be a little bit too long.

I also felt the idea of God being present confused it a little bit further. As mentioned earlier, I think there are too many ideas in this book for a young child to be able to grasp easily.

I felt the concept for this book was a good one in trying to teach children about Alzheimers, but maybe it would have to be a little more simple.

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This is a cute picture book with sweet illustrations and simple sentences. Alzheimer's is a very sad disease, and I could feel that truth even as I was reading. It shows readers that those with Alzheimer's lived normal lives before they developed the disease. I think that's an important thing to acknowledge; even--especially--if the adult with Alzheimer's can't remember those growing-up and grown-up years, it's important for loved ones to remember in order to keep perspective. It may have been nice if the book had talked a little more about what to do when someone you love has Alzheimer's, but I realize that the point of this book is to START the conversation.

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This beautiful story is about a girl growing who loved music. Decades later, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, music is the connection that helps her remember tidbits of her life.

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Honestly, it was just fine. The illustrations were lovely and I liked the concept of trying to share Alzheimer's with children through a story but this just didn't seem to work for me. I didn't expect the religious references and "her song" seemed a little too abstract for children to really grasp what memories someone with Alzheimer's would hold on to.

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This book had a good subject, I just found it a little hard to keep up with what was happening as it jumped so fast through the years. And if I didn’t catch on super fast then I don’t know if a kid might

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This was a sweet story. I thought the illustrations are beautiful and am hopeful that the depictions of Alzheimers will help families and children in the future start conversations and gain understanding of the heartbreaking disease. This would be a great book to have on hand if you need to explain dementia to kiddos!

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Josie was born with a song in her heart. Even though she develops Alzheimer's, the song still shines through.

I will be blunt, I don’t think metaphysical aspects should be introduced to children until their brains are developed enough to understand them. I think it damages and confuses children to be introduced to religious metaphors they aren’t equipped to understand.

That points to another aspect I take issue with: what does it mean to have a song in your heart? Religious folks talk about confusing children with queer issues, but the queer theories presented in other children’s books are well defined, and explanatory. This book is not. What does it mean to have a song in your heart? What does it mean to pray? What was Josie praying for if her life is so happy? How do you keep your song playing when you’re struck by disease?

This book was supposed to be about alzheimer's but it did nothing but present an agenda.

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This was a nice children’s book and while I am very interested in the subject, I didn’t really connect with the story or the art.

I do love that 10% of book proceeds will go to Alzheimer’s Association. My grandmother has Alzheimer’s and it’s quite heartbreaking to watch so I do think books like this are super important for families.

The story was pleasant but the characters feel a little flat and not personal for me. Maybe because there’s no dialogue. Just a general story of a person’s life.

The art was clean and well done. But it felt kind of predictable? It reminded me of the 1950s and didn’t really grab my imagination. But that’s my personal preference on art styles.

All of that being said, this is a nice book and we definitely need more kids’ books like this that address Alzheimer’s.

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