Baby Duck & The New Eyeglasses
Getting Your First Pair of Glasses Isn't Easy
Amy Hest and Jill Barton's warm, sympathetic picture book dealing with a big milestone for little ones.
Trying to get used to something new is tough when you’re little, but if it’s something you have to wear all the time, like glasses, it can be especially hard. You look really different – not “you”, but somebody else. And how can you have fun if you’re worried about them falling off or getting broken? Your life will never be the same again – or will it?
Poor Baby Duck
All she can do is stare at herself in the mirror. At the stranger staring back at her. She most definitely does not like what she sees. Mr and Mrs Duck try very hard to cheer her up. They tell her she looks really sweet in her new glasses. And surely she can see so much better with them on. It doesn’t matter. Baby Duck just doesn’t like them. Maybe a trip to the park to see Grandpa and his new boat will help. “Hop down the lane, Baby”, say Mr and Mrs Duck. How can she hop? Her glasses might fall off. How about dancing down the lane? But surely the glasses will fall off if she dances? Mr and Mrs Duck can have lots of fun because THEY don’t have to wear glasses. Baby is never going to have any fun again. At the park she hides behind a tree and sings a very sad song:
"Poor, poor Baby, she looks ugly, In her bad eyeglasses. Everyone can play but me, Poor, poor, poor, poor Baby."
Mr and Mrs Duck are very upset. They don’t want to see Baby so unhappy, but they’re not sure how to make her feel better.
Grandpa Has a Plan
Mr and Mrs Duck tell Grandpa about how sad Baby Duck is. And Grandpa understands very well – because he has glasses too. And not only that, they’re exactly the same colour as Baby’s; beautiful bright red. So it’s time to show Baby she can still do all the same things she used to before she had glasses. She can splash really hard in the lake. She can spin around three whole times. And guess what – the glasses don’t come off! But that’s not all. Grandpa’s got a special treat, and it’s not long before Baby has a new happy song to sing:
"I have nice new eyeglasses! I look like my Grandpa. My rowing boat is lots of fun, And I can read my name on it."
A sweet, reassuring story from Amy Hest, with Jill Barton’s illustrations making the ducks just “human” enough so that children can identify with Baby. A perfect bedtime book you’ll be reading again and again. In addition, if you particularly enjoy duck stories, why not try Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury, also published by Walker Books.
