Glasses: Books For Kids
As someone who’s had glasses since they were in the first grade, I know first hand that getting glasses can be a tricky and somewhat scary business for kids. How do you know when you need them? Does it hurt? What will the optometrist do to your eyes? Does having glasses mean there’s something wrong with you? Will everyone laugh at you? Will you still be able to do things you like to do? There’s a lot of uncertainty, and it can be difficult to address some of these fears, but the good news is, books can help! Here are some of our very favorite books to help alleviate fears about getting glasses and show that it’s just a normal thing to do that actually makes things way better once you adjust to them!
This book about a dog who needs glasses is great to help little ones learn about eye sight and why some people where glasses, but might be especially fun for kids who wear glasses themselves. The story is humorous and entertaining, and I liked that it portrayed the visit to the eye doctor as something helpful and fun as he got to pick the perfect pair of glasses.
Meet Douglas, a dog with a big problem: he needs eyeglasses but doesn’t know it, and his bad eyesight tends to land him in some pretty hairy situations.
Readers will laugh along with the new picture book character Douglas as he chases a leaf that he mistakes for a squirrel, walks through wet cement because he can’t see the warning sign, and annoys the neighbor’s dog by mistakenly eating out of his bowl. And when Douglas’s owner Nancy finally takes him to what is clearly an eyeglass store and Douglas asks, “Why are you taking me to a shoe store?” everyone will be giggling.
After an eye exam confirms that Douglas needs glasses, and Nancy helps him find the perfect pair, readers will rejoice with Douglas as he sees all the amazing things he’s been missing!
Both kids and parents will laugh out loud—and may even recognize themselves!—while reading this utterly irresistible, hilarious picture book.
This is a fun different take on the experience of getting glasses and one little girl’s roller coaster of emotions as she goes from really not wanting to go to the opticians to REALLY wanting glasses (once she sees how cool her friend’s glasses are) to really disappointed when she doesn’t actually need glasses. The sibling relationships in this book are healthy and encouraging, the illustrations are cute and the message is great.
Before her first trip to the optician, Lola looks forward to getting a pretty pair of glasses, but her brother Charlie warns her that she’ll only get glasses if she really needs them.
Arthur’s Eyes is a helpful book for any young reader who already wears glasses or will soon be getting glasses, especially if she or he feels sensitive about it. Seeing Arthur work his way from being self-conscious to confident will be a helpful guide and a good way to talk through any real life struggles.
None of Arthur’s friends wear glasses and his classmates tease him! But when he stops wearing them, he gets in all kinds of trouble. Maybe four eyes really are better than two.
A riotous and reassuring picture book about having to wear glasses!
Perfect for a child who is hesitant about getting glasses! It walks through the entire process (eye chart, drops that make your pupils bigger, the machine you look through, choosing frames, etc.) I also love how the illustrations show how things snap into focus for Paige when she finally gets to try on her glasses… she may have seen “fine” before, but now she can see great!
“Though Paige claims, “I can see just fine,” her parents grow concerned and decide it’s time for Paige to visit the eye doctor. Paige remains defiant until she finds the perfect frames and more importantly, perfect eyesight”—
The Pirate of Kindergarten - The Book Snob Mom - This book is a great book for addressing the rather niche topic of needing an eye patch to correct for double vision. It does a beautiful job of illustrating what double vision feels like to create empathy in those of us who have never experienced double vision and highlight some of the feelings a child experiencing the complications of double vision might have. I love how excited the little girl is right off the bat to have a patch, and her positive transformation into an awesome pirate!
Arlo Needs Glasses - Every child who wears glasses will know just how Arlo feels, and will feel better because of it. And every parent will want that child to know that glasses are cool and fun and enable us to do the things we want to do. Take Arlo: He’s a shaggy, free-spirited dog who loves to play catch, until one day he can’t. He can’t see the ball anymore. He needs glasses! In this inventive, interactive (and now revised) picture book created by Barney Saltzberg, the bespectacled author of Beautiful Oops!, who charms young readers and their parents with a perfect light touch and joyful spirit, kids get to do just what Arlo does to solve his problem. They read an eye chart, look through a lift-the-flap phoropter (that big machine optometrists use), and try on different pairs of glasses—movie star glasses! superhero glasses! mad scientist glasses! And they interact with Arlo as he rediscovers how to be the best ball-catcher in the neighborhood and picks up a new favorite pastime along the way—reading! One out of five school-age children needs glasses. Arlo will show them just how lucky they are.
Princess Peepers - When the other princesses make fun of her for wearing glasses, Princess Peepers vows to go without, but after several mishaps—one of which is especially coincidental—she admits that she really does need them if she wants to see.
Junie B., First Grader (at Last!) - Junie B. thinks first grade is a flop when her kindergarten friend Lucille prefers the company of twins Camille and Chenille and Junie B. needs glasses.
Instead of the boring, real reason she is wearing an eye patch and glasses, Becca gives her friends at school an imaginative, wild explanation for her new fashion accessory.
From the creator of Ready Rabbit Gets Ready! comes a hilarious photo-story of sisterhood and one-upmanship.
Philomena needs new glasses. Her sister Audrey wants them, too. And if Philomena and Audrey have them, shouldn’t their sister Nora Jane also have them?
In this utterly amusing tale of sisterhood, glasses, purses, and dresses, these girls soon make an important discovery. Not everyone needs the same things!
This magical and richly illustrated book opens with King Edward and Queen Victoria noticing that their daughter, Princess Liana, can’t see very far, which means she’s missing out on all the wonders of the Kingdom of TuaLuna. What can they do? She can’t see little flowers, stars in the night sky, or ladybugs!
Young readers are invited to share the journey as Princess Liana and her father set off to meet Maximilian, the court magician, to see how he could help. Princess Liana is given a magical eye test, and then is presented with an amazing pair of eyeglasses which allow her to see a new world filled with glorious detail.
The book includes fun questions from Princess Liana to young readers, and helpful tips from the author to the parents of girls who currently have or may need to get glasses.
This book is cute in theory, and great if you’re looking to make glasses seem extra fun! That being said, the cadence feels awkward reading it aloud. Putting the glasses in each face is also more fun in theory (maybe I’m just impatient), and while they are made of cardboard rather than paper, they still have trouble withstanding toddler use.
From rock-star-worthy shades to opera monocles, this playful and interactive board book is all about glasses! Glasses to read a good book Glasses to play the electric guitar Which glasses are for a rockin’ rock star? This highly engaging board book comes with seven sets of cardstock glasses in a variety of shapes and sizes that go along with each turn of the page! Lively text encourages little ones to decorate the faces throughout the pages of this book with a pair of the many press-out glasses.
After helping her cousin Joanie find glasses, Bobbie convinces Joanie to let her wear them while they go to Sophie’s Sweet Shoppe.
Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero - All the grown-ups comment that Eliot is “such a quiet little thing,” unaware that at night, when the clock strikes midnight, he becomes a superhero, and now he has received his most urgent mission yet, to help a group of scientists prevent a giant meteor from crashing into Earth.
Izzy Gizmo - Izzy Gizmo loves to invent but gets frustrated when her inventions fail to work properly, so when she finds a crow with a broken wing her grandfather urges her to persist until she finds a way to help.
Mr. Posey's New Glasses - In a charming tale of an elderly man and his obliging young friend, former poet laureate Ted Kooser and newcomer Daniel Duncan invite us to look at the world with fresh eyes. Mr. Posey is feeling gloomy. Everything seems dull. Maybe he needs new glasses? Perhaps a trip to the Cheer Up Thrift Shop with his energetic young neighbor, Andy, will help. But when the duo try on the glasses in the shop’s barrel, they’re in for a big surprise. One pair with stars for frames shows only constellations in a night sky. Round frames reveal a world all aswirl, while a heart-shaped pair makes everything pink. And as soon as Mr. Posey puts on the cat-eye framed glasses, fierce dogs start chasing him. No, thank you! But when Andy makes a simple observation, Mr. Posey’s view opens to a whole new world — and finally everything is brighter, different, and exciting.
My Travelin' Eye - Jenny Sue loves that her “travelin’ eye” lets her see the world in a special way, and so she is not happy when her teacher suggests that her parents take her to an opthamologist to fix the lazy eye.
Abby wishes that she had glasses like Rosa, then realizes she might have something that is just as desirable.
Did you enjoy our children's book recommendations? Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below!