Optometrist releases picture book explaining why children might need glasses

An optometrist and independent practice owner has released a book that aims to explain sight conditions to children in a simple and accessible way. 

Stephanie Lipsey-Liu, who owns Charles Lea Opticians in Mapperley, Nottingham, created We love our glasses to both educate young patients about why they might need glasses and provide easy explanations for parents.

The book explains conditions including myopia, hypertropia, astigmatism and anisometropia, as well as the benefits of different types of glasses.

The clinical aspects have been checked over by Hoya, who will also be helping Lipsey-Liu to market the book.

The picture book, which was illustrated by illustrator and art therapist Viktoria Soltis-Doan, is designed for optometrists to stock in practice, or to recommend to their patients.

It is available for purchase on Amazon, costing £6.99, however Lipsey-Liu plans to sell to optometrists at a discounted rate: £4.99, £4.79 if ordering more than 10, and £4.49 if ordering more than 20. Practices are then able to sell them on at whatever price they like. Those who want to order copies for their practices should email Lipsey-Liu at [email protected]

For a limited time, Lipsey-Liu is also offering the Kindle version for free for optometry professionals, so they can read the book before buying it or recommending it to patients.

The ebook can be found by searching for the title on Kindle devices. The free offer will expire on Sunday 3 July.

Lipsey-Liu has dedicated the book to her daughter, Isabella.

She said: “The main aim of the book is to help each child and their adults understand why they need glasses and why other children might need glasses. It also has some fun optical illusions at the end, in addition to a glossary and FAQs.”

She added: “I wanted to write the book as there is very little understanding among the general population about the basic reasons children actually need glasses, and about children's eye care in general.

“I thought a book would be a fun way to introduce the ideas to children and adults and also for children who wear glasses to see illustrations of children with glasses on.”