Are There Any Books for Kids Who Are Getting Glasses?

If a back-to-school eye exam reveals that your kid needs glasses, or vision problems and the need for glasses become apparent after school starts, there may be concerns about getting teased. Guest blogger Carol Kania Morency has reading recommendations for children who are rejoining classmates for the first time in eyeglasses, with a bonus recommendation for kids who require an eye patch to correct amblyopia, or “lazy eye.”

By Carol Kania Morency, marketing director, Mount Prospect Public Library

If your child needs glasses, she or he is in good company! Arthur, Junie B. Jones, and Harry Potter are just a few of the children’s literature favorites who wear them. While many books for young readers emphasize the reason for glasses (such as difficulty at school) they also celebrate spectacles as a way to show off your personality or as proof that we are all unique. Here are a few titles.

Pearl and Wagner: Four Eyes by Kate McMullan is part of the Pearl and Wagner series about two friends — a mouse named Wagner and a rabbit named Pearl. Targeted at 5-8 year olds, the story centers around how Wagner the Mouse gets teased when he wears his new glasses to school, but friends stick up for him in a gentle, jokey way. If your child loves Marc Brown’s Arthur, find out how he handled this same situation in Arthur’s Eyes, first published in 1976.

Princess Peepers by Pam Calvert and Tuesday Mourning is for readers ages 6-8 and also deals with teasing. Princess Peepers decides to go without her glasses after the kids at school make fun of her, and finds herself in some strange places.

I Wish I Had Glasses Like Rosa by Kathryn Heling approaches the issue from another angle, one that plays on how kids often envy what their friends have. Preschoolers and kindergarteners will love the illustrations of the different kinds of glasses, and parents will appreciate the message that everyone has something special to show off.

Going with the theme of glasses as a fashion accessory (that also help you see!), Fancy Nancy: Spectacular Spectacles features glasses that are “lavender, glittery, and come with a silver case and a silk hankie to clean them.” This beginning reader for ages 4-8 features some vocabulary words in the back, so your young one can impress Dr. Pinkerton!

For kids who are a bit older when they discover they need glasses, Lane Smith’s Glasses, Who Needs ’Em gets right at the heart of the matter for that age. “I’m worried that I’ll look like a dork,” the young narrator says. This book has a strange twist and imagery that makes it great for school-age kids.

Clever illustrations make The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon and Lynn Avril great for kids who have to wear an eye patch to correct double vision or a lazy eye. We see what Ginny sees with uncorrected double vision — and then how much faster she can work and play when she wears her eye patch. This is a fun book for ages 4-8 that should even interest kids who don’t share Ginny’s struggles.

Ask for books about glasses, or that feature characters with glasses, at your local library. To see if your local library has a specific book, try Worldcat.org.

The website littlefoureyes.com is also a fun resource for parents of young children who need or wear glasses.

Although book titles link to Amazon, we encourage you to support your local bookstore and make use of your local public library.