There is nothing more rewarding than snuggling up with your child and a good book!  It is important to have books in your home that reflect your family values and show diversity.  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of children’s books about getting glasses, wearing glasses, even showing kids in glasses.    I wanted to build our home library with more of these books.   The public library, garage sales, Good Will, the Internet, and bookstores are all great places to get books.  If you purchase one through the Little Four Eyes Store a portion of the proceeds go towards maintaining this website.  Hopefully this review and future book reviews will help you choose books to add to your collection that reflect your child’s age and interests.

“I Wish I Had Glasses Like Rosa.” is a short sweet story about a little girl who wishes she had glasses like her best friend. I love how it begins, “I wish I had glasses like Rosa.  They make her look beautiful.” The main character then goes on to try out all types of glasses from her grandma’s reading glasses to ones she has made from clay in art class so that she can be more like her friend, none of which ending up working for her.  In the end, she still wishes for glasses, but acknowledges that Rosa wishes she had freckles like her. It is a story that highlights the fact that people are unique and that is what makes them beautiful.

If you don’t already have this book at home, I highly recommend it for pre-school to kindergarten age especially. The illustrations are large without lots of small details with a white contrasting background making them easier to see.  The story has great vocabulary and teaches children about the different kinds of glasses that people wear.  Another benefit is that it is available as a bilingual book and has the words in both English and Spanish.

Activities to do after reading the story;

1. Gather different types of glasses (goggles, safety glasses, reading glasses, party glasses) in a basket and talk about how they are the same and different.
2. Look at pictures on the Internet of people wearing glasses to show that all types of people wear different types of glasses.  Here is a short video that shows several kinds of glasses.
3. Discuss how people are all different and that is what makes everyone special.  Look at pictures of the people in your family and talk about how each person is unique; hair color, eye color, height, glasses, things they like to do and more!