The Patch

Cute book to help in a child understand that patches are ok. Our little one was having a hard time with all the questions people were saying about her without talking to her directly. Mom what is wrong with that girl, is her eye missing why is that on her eye, etc. It got to the point she felt something was wrong with her, she is only 5 and did not understand curiosity of others. She got to where it was a fight to make her wear one, and she was in severe need to for correcting her eye. This book was a great help in her understanding and a way for us to open up her thoughts on why questions and it gave her the power to stand up and answer for herself.

This is an excellent book for little girls who have been diagnosed w/ amblyopia!! It has great illustrations & is factual, which is wonderful! In the back of the book, it briefly explains what amblyopia is, which is nice for parents/caretakers/teachers. My daughter enjoys this book as well, but her absolute favorite book about "wearing glasses" is "Princess Peepers" (a scholastic book)....she LOVES that book!!! It addresses (in a very fun way) the issue of teasing/making fun of kids who wear glasses and why it's so important that people (girls, "princesses", in particular in this book) wear their glasses. I think that book has a great message & allows us to discuss the issues as needed!! I recommend both of these books for little girls who wear glasses/have amblyopia.

Got this for a family member who had to wear a patch, the story is precious. The art is so cute and I love the inclusivity.

I have a girl who started patching for amblyopia at age 5. I saw this book online then, but I wasn't sure from the reviews I'd seen at the time if it would really be a good fit for her. I eventually bought it last year when she had to return to patching. Wow, I wish I'd bought it sooner as the character matched my girl a lot: about the same age at diagnosis, also had reddish hair, loved dance, and was picky about which color of glasses and patch she wore. Some reviewers thought it strange that the character didn't want to explain the patch to her friends and instead hide behind her imagination by pretending to be a pirate, one-eyed monster, etc. I totally get that, though, as the character was very out-going and fun-loving but still felt embarrassed by her patch, which is something I think kids will relate to well. Very few kids WON'T feel embarrassed wearing a patch--especially to school, and I think a story that doesn't address that issue that older kids (as in 3 or 4 and older) will have isn't helpful. In the end, it's no big deal that the character has to wear a patch. Her friends are still her friends. (*I personally recommend NOT having your child wear a patch at the start of a new school year. Wait a month or so to allow his/her classmates to see your child for who he/she really is, and THEN introduce the patch with the help of your child's teacher and a great book like this read to and discussed with the class.*)

Cute book for both girls and boys about "fitting in" when patching. I appreciate that this little girl, while a ballerina who likes pink, also likes pirates. This story appealed to both my elementary school-aged son and daughter, both of whom have to patch. Another great title on this topic is "Jacob's Eye Patch". Good to send these books to school for the teacher to read to the class when a child has to go into school with an eyepatch. We did this on the first day our kids patched in school. Having the story ready aloud to their class really helped the other kids to understand and accept the patching and ours not to feel self-conscious about wearing the patches in school.

My little one wears a patch and I bought this to help normalize it for her. At first I didn’t like that in the end, the character refers to her weaker eye as “lazy” but overall I liked the book. And it has been very effective at helping my kid find humor, creativity, and acceptance.

This book really helped my daughter feel better about wearing her eye patch to school and helped her friends to understand. Love it! Every classroom with a child who has a lazy eye should get this book!

This book helped my child understand better about their new eye patches.

My little girl is on her journey with glasses and has to patch. Its been a struggle, but she gets excited when we re read this book all about patching

Es un libro que cuenta una historia en inglés que está muy bien para animar a que los niños utilicen su parche o gafas, es una historia divertida de una niña y su relación con el parche y sus amigos. Aunque a mi hijo de 2años y medio no he conseguido convencerle, pero creo que está muy bien para niños más mayores.

We have just found out my niece of 6 years is blind in one eye. As for many this was very hard to hear. She will be going to eye hospitals for more tests and moreover they will trial a patch to see if they can strengthen the eye at all we are very hopeful. She will also need glasses. My sister has been completely honest with my niece and I brought this book to help as my niece is very timid and worried what others say and if she will be ugly with it. This book most definitely put a smile on her face which was massively needed! Well done to Justina Chen Headley the author and Mitch Vane the illustrator for helping young girls/boys feel better about themselves and covering every aspect needed!

I purchased this shortly after we discovered our daughter would need to wear a patch for most of the day, everyday. This book has helped to make it seem less scary and helped to normalize this stage she's in. Her teacher has read it to the class (ages 4-6) as well so they can also understand better. I'd recommend the book for any little girl who has discovered she has to wear a patch to understand she's not alone and that it's all about getting better.

My daughter loves this story. It is so helpful when they are first starting to patch!