I Can See Just Fine

by Eric Barclay

Overview

Paige is just like every other kid. She goes to school. She practices her violin. She plays outside. The only problem is, she cannot quite see the chalkboard, her sheet music, or anything else! Despite Paige's repeated refrain of "I can see just fine," the comical illustrations portray a different story. Paige's parents decide it's time for her to visit the eye doctor, despite her protests. But Paige's stubbornness quickly dissolves as she braves an enthralling eye checkup, enjoys a playful frame selection, and, most importantly, ends up with perfect eyesight! Barclay successfully depicts a very real and relevant issue with lightheartedness and gentle humor. Young readers will relate to Paige's journey and celebrate her triumph of seeing clearly in the end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613126172
Publisher:	Abrams, Harry N., Inc.
Publication date:	08/06/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

Eric Barclay has been illustrating and designing for the advertising world for more than a decade, working with clients such as American Express, Disneyland Paris, Nokia, Sprint, Hyatt Hotels, and Westin Kids Club. He currently illustrates for American Greetings and Hallmark. He lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and their two daughters.

Editorial Reviews

Repeatedly uttering the titular protest, a child is dragged off to "see" the eye doctor in this neatly drawn, too neatly resolved take on a common experience. Paige's inability to make out what's on the class chalkboard is just one of a set of symptoms that trigger a day off from school, an eye exam, a chance to try on a zillion pairs of eyeglass frames and, after a fitting, a whole new, sharply focused world. But if the textual narrative is pretty straightforward, the visual subtext is not. The climactic fuzzy-to-sharp spread implies that Paige's affliction is really no more than simple myopia, but cues scattered through Barclay's bright, simple cartoon illustrations point, if apparently unintentionally, to more complex vision (or other) problems. Paige wears mismatched shoes of different colors; in one scene, she "reads" a book held upside down; most egregiously, she happily cuddles a "kitty" that is actually a skunk (later, she identifies it correctly and still cuddles it). Even the final scene, in which Paige pours orange juice into her breakfast cereal while disagreeing with her mother's remark that her glasses are too dirty to see through, doesn't quite come off as a joke. It's hard to judge intent, but even if this might provide lighthearted reassurance for young squinters, it's going to leave more observant parents and other caregivers disquieted, at best. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews