Charlie's Eyeglasses

Charlie’s Eyeglasses is about a small boy with big hopes of being noticed by a girl he likes. This is an atypical topic for the picture book age range, and may insight outbursts from immature readers when they realize he “like likes” a girl. Older audiences may wonder why he is so quick to change his appearance for someone who does not even notice his efforts, which would be a good conversation starter. I like that this journey leads him to find out he does need glasses, gets the help he needs, and sees more clearly that he has better options out there. Overall, this quirky tale has a deep message about finding someone who sees you. It is a picture book but would appeal to older audiences as well.

“Charlie’s Eyeglasses” by Margarita del Mazo is a cute story about a little boy who desperately wants eyeglasses so a girl in class will notice him. He feels that since she is getting glasses, if he gets them too, it may be just the thing he needs for her to give him the time of day. Charlie is very small, and even though he does lots of things for the girl he likes—Iris—she doesn’t notice them because she doesn’t notice him. He’s just not on her radar. He thinks that the fact that she’ll get glasses will make it easier to see him, and it works from both a figurative and a literal standpoint. Maybe she really can’t see him. However, as soon as she does get glasses, he tells himself she’s noticing him, while in fact he’s noticing her smaller friend who he had never really seen before. It turns out that getting eyeglasses was just the thing he needed to help him see beyond his ordinary interests.

The theme of this book works for kids and adults alike. Sometimes one has to look beyond what is ordinary or expected to see more. Being confident and setting one's sights on what one wants may work out, and it may not, but even if it doesn't, there may be something even better that hasn't even been discovered yet.