Samantha Wears a Contact Lens and Patch... JUST LIKE YOU!: A day in the life of a unilaterally aphakic child

This is a book aimed at a relatively small number of children - those who need to wear contacts and/or patches. Our daughter had a congenital cataract in one eye which required removal of the lens so she could see. Now, she wears a contact in that eye, and a patch on her good eye for six hours each day.This book is written specifically for children like her. It describes inserting the contact in the morning, picking out a patch during the day, and taking the contact back out at night. The author's goal for the book is quite clear from the title. She's written this to show children with conditions similar to our daughter's that there are lots of other kids just like them. It's certainly a great message to a lot of children who don't have any friends with their condition, and probably feel unusual. Given the very small target audience, I was quite pleasantly surprised at the quality of the book, especially the figures which are beautifully illustrated.We started reading this to our daughter at around 18 months (she's 20 months now), and she LOVES it. We read her a few stories before bed, and she's been asking for this one specifically (she says "Contact! Contact!"). So far, our daughter hasn't seemed to to feel self-conscious about contacts/patches, so I can't speak to how helpful it is regarding helping children to feel better about being different, but I expect it will. It does seem to be a helpful tool for inserting/removing her contact. We'll read her the story, then show her going through the same steps the book describes for adding/removing a contact using one of her stuffed animals. It seems to help.I wanted to add our review to encourage parents of children with a similar condition to give this book a try. The book is great even for 1-year-olds, and I suspect it will continue to be helpful as our daughter grows up. I would strongly recommend this to any parents who deal with contacts or patches, or perhaps to parents where a close friend or relative of their child has a similar condition.

I read this book with great enthusiasm. This book fills an important need for so many parents and their children. I am the grandmother of a beautiful unilateral aphakic child and also an RN. I have both personally and professionally observed how difficult it can be for parents to navigate the waters of a medical issue that they were unaware of until the day of their child was born. A very overwhelming and confusing time for a family to deal with. The more resources that are available the smoother, calmer, and more natural family life can be. This book is one tool that helps to fill that need. It can be SO very difficult to put a contact lens into a squirming toddler. This book does help the child to see this as part of a daily routine. It helps with acceptance. It helps with self-esteem. IT DOES NOT eliminate every rough day... but it does go a long way to help the child to understand. AND IT IS SO CUTE. my granddaughter wants to read it over and over and wear matching patches too !!! Information on support groups is also included. I cant say enough about this wonderful book. I obviously highly recommend it. The drawings are very cute.

This is a wonderful book about Samantha, a child born with a unilateral congenital cataract; and who, subsequently, has to wear a contact lens from infancy in her eye that has no lens. It a book for parents and children of any age and for anyone who loves children and wishes to know about a child aphakic. Parents can read this to their children or young children can read it by themselves if they wish.The story is informative and heartwarming. The illustrations are terrific; and, along, with the story show a day in the life of Samantha and the small part of that day that involves the putting in and removing of the contact and the use of the patch.The book is cheerful, authentic and hopeful.

Game changer!! We got this book off of Amazon and started reading it to our son who's 1.5 years a couple of weeks ago. Every time we take it out or put the lens back in we read it to him. And now he's actually excited, climbs onto the bed by himself and holds completely still. I can even put the lens on first try now!! We love this book!!!!

My almost 2 year old loved reading this and seeing a little girl experience the same things she does on a daily basis. Great for siblings to learn with too.

Great book for parents of children who have to wear a contact lens & patch! We read it daily!

My son absolutely loves this book. He now better understands his contacts and that other kids have to go thru the same process he does!

I took this book into my daughter's preschool. She is just like Samantha, even down to matching patches to clothes. It was a great conversation starter and a good way to explain why my daughter wears a patch for the first hour or so of preschool. So glad that this book exists!

got this for my daughter with cataracts it really help with the patch

Good book for work

I was so excited to see that there's a childrens book about this! My daughter was born with a unilateral congenital cataract and has to wear a contact with daily patching. I cant wait until she understands when she's older so she can have this to relate to

My daughter loved this book! She's 2 and was struggling with wearing her patch.. now she wants to be just like"Samantha"! It's great!!