Guest Author - MaryTara Wurmser
When your young child needs glasses, it is often quite an adventure. I remember when I got glasses, I was in 3rd grade and I loved them immediately. Yet, both my children did not have the same "love" for their glasses at first. My daughter was insistent that "princesses didn't wear glasses" and my son was just hell on wheels and refused to keep them on his head where they belonged.
Friends gave me lots of tips for getting them to wear their glasses, yet some of the best advice that I received upfront was to invest in some cheap spares and expect that they would get lost, broken, or misplaced (either purposefully or not) and to be prepared. I swore I was prepared for anything, but now I look back and laugh!
It seems that the trend of kids getting glasses and not wanting to wear them is really quite common. The nice thing is that there are some really well written and beautifully illustrated children's books on this topic that may be helpful to your children as they were to mine.
Books for little Girls:
Princess Peepers written by Pam Calvert is a modern day fairytale of a Princess who wears glasses. Princess Peepers has a set of glasses for every occasion and loves her glasses. Until, one day she is ridiculed by other princesses and decides not to wear them. What results is a comedy of errors as Peepers tries to navigate the castle without glasses and cannot see. She mistakes a dog for the queen and a horse for another princess. It wouldn't be a fairytale without a happy ending and Peepers meets a Prince who also wears glasses. This fun book is illustrated by Tuesday Morning and is a must have for little princesses who wear glasses. Be sure to visit the author's website and submit pictures of your very own Princess Peepers.
Luna and the Big Blur by Shirley Day tells the story of a young girl who not only doesn't like wearing her glasses, she doesn't like her name either (because it rhymes with Tuna). Luna has a dream that she can see clearly and decides to do without her glasses which of course results in her bumping into things and making mistakes. This children's storybook tells the story of how Luna comes to accept her glasses and relish in her unique name when she learns its true meaning.
Books for little Boys:
Randy Kazandy, Where are your glasses? by Rhonda Fischer is based on a real life Randy Kazandy who did not like to wear his glasses. So much so that Randy goes to great lengths to hide, break and otherwise get rid of them. His mother is super-prepared with lots of spares to keep glasses on little Randy's face where they belong. This book is written in rhyme and vibrantly illustrated (by Kim Sponaugle). Seek and find hidden and not so hidden eyeglasses in every illustration making this a fun book to read again and again. Visit the Randy Kazandy Website for fun kids activities based on the book.
