H and I have spent three hours this morning having various eye tests at the hospital and the result is that he’s very long-sighted and needs glasses (and potentially a patch to correct a turn in one eye, but the glasses may sort that out by themselves) for the foreseeable future and the chances are he’ll be wearing them (or contacts) for the rest of his life.
So, as always in these situations, I want to turn to books as part of the way we’ll help him feel OK about all this. Not that I think there is anything AT ALL wrong with wearing glasses, more that it’s just going to be a big change for him initially. He’s only just turned two so he’s not overly bothered about it at the moment, but I want to make sure that from now on he sees as many positive role models as possible and that he sees himself in as many stories as possible.
Therefore, kind readers, I need your help please. I’d love to get as many recommendations as possible for books that you think H might enjoy now and in the future. Obviously we’re talking picture books for now but if you know of any great books that would work later on then I’ll happily hear about those too.
Many thanks in advance 🙂
TTFN
storyseekersuk 
‘Ella’ by Alex T Smith is great. I will have a big think about this & get back to you…have retweeted and I’m sure you’ll be innundated!
Thanks so much, Anne – I really appreciate your help!
Loll, you are lovely! The boys are so lucky to have a top, caring, pro-active Mum like you.
Clearly H will be in the best company when he is old enough to enjoy glasses champion Harry Potter. But for now,
Main characters with glasses:
Ella by Alex T Smith. Oliver by Birgitta Sif (gorgeous). Sidney from Sidney, Stella and the moon. Whizz Pop Granny Stop by Tracey Corderoy. Just Imagine has a boy wearing glasses lead the story.
Books with additional characters with glasses:
Totally Wonderful Miss Plumberry by Michael Rosen. The Cloud by Hannah Cummings. The dad in Princess and the Peas, Caryl Hart. Also try Chickens Can’t see in the Dark by Kristina Litten.
And The Night Pirates for the eyepatch?
NAUGHTY NORMAN IN FIREMAN SAM!!!
And I heard a rumour that Fireman Sam had to wear an eyepatch when he was a boy.
Ha haaaaaaa – LOVE it, Carmen! Funnily enough we had already thought of Naughty Norman (H definitely has a cheeky side so the similarities go beyond the glasses..!). I’ll pass on the Fireman Sam patch rumour too 😉
We’re not sure yet about whether he’ll need a patch, but actually we have more examples of characters wearing patches than we do for glasses (up until I posted today, anyway). H and C are both keen on Octonauts now and H’s favourite character is Kwazii, who wears a patch.
It was just quite a shock to find out that his eyesight was so bad as we haven’t noticed any problems with his vision (so am now feeling like a terrible parent). We only went as he has a turn in one eye but they thought that that could be just one of those things.
In a way it’s a relief to find out that the turn is linked to his vision as wearing glasses should sort it out, but I just need to get my head around how to keep glasses on a toddler permanently! We’ve been this afternoon to get him fitted for his glasses and he look super-cute in them 🙂
Luckily M wears glasses (though not all the time as H will have to) and H idolises his dad, so at the moment he’s very excited about having a special ‘thing’ that he and Daddy share. Am sure it’ll all be fine, but just want to help him as much as possible 🙂
Thanks again for all your ideas – you’re a superstar!
Alex T Smith is pretty good at characters with glasses. Ella is great of course, but how about Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero that he also illustrated? I’m sure there’s loads more but despite wearing glasses myself since I was nine I don’t really notice them for some reason! I’ll have a think but loads of great suggestions from Carmen already 🙂
Ok, this is not off the top of my head, but from my A-Zoo subject access to chidlren’s picture books:
Mole’s in Love by D Bedford
Arthur’s eyes by M Brown (also: Glasses for D.W.)
Princess Peepers by P Calvert
Farmer Brown’s field trip by M Carlson
Boris’s glasses by p Cohen
Farmer McPeepers ad his missing milk cows by K Duffield
Choosing eyeglasses with Mrs Koutris by A Flanagan
The Patch by J Headley
Baby Duck adn the bad eyeglasses by A hest
Brester the rooster by D Scillian
Glasses… who needs ’em? by Lanes Smith
The cats of Mrs Calamari by J Stadler
[…] a follow-up to this post, where I asked for advice on good books that featured children wearing glasses, I though I’d […]