Review Detail

Arlo Needs Glasses

Kids Fiction 509

Jeepers! Peepers!

December 16, 2023

Overall rating

3.8

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

3.0

Arlo's owner loves to play with his dog, but when Arlo has trouble catching a ball, he starts to worry. He even tries to model the behavior in case Arlo has forgotten how to catch a ball, but it becomes clear that Arlo needs to have his eyes checked. At the optometrist's, Arlo has to look through a phoropter and read an eye chart, which helps the doctor determine that Arlo needs glasses. Arlo tries on a wide variety of colorful frams before deciding on a pair with decorate bones at the temple. The glasses help Arlo be able to catch the ball again, and also make it easier for him to read a lot of dog themes books!

Good Points

The illustration style of this is fun; it looks like colored pencil drawings cut out and pasted onto finger painted backgrounds, which gives some depth to the pages. The colors are vibrant, but in a localized way, so that the pages are not overwhelming. I appreciated the dark, chunky, san serif font and wouldn't mind seeing this style in more books.

There have been many books about getting glasses over the years; I remember reading Brown's 1986 Arthur's Eyes to my own children. Aside from mentionin the phoropter, there isn't a lot of detail about what eye examines are like, which makes this good for younger children who might not like as much information.

Readers who might need glasses, or readers who have DOGS that might need glasses (my own dog wears sunglasses because of cataracts) can work through the adjustment process along with Arlo, and maybe also pick up Douglas, You Need Glasses! by Ged Adamson or Princess Peepers or by Pam Calvert. This is definitely a title that all optometrists' waiting rooms should keep on hand!