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This is a companion to a picture book released in 2004, Carla's Sandwich. I don't think I ever read that title and there's only one copy in my whole consortium. However, this new book stands well on its own.
Carla, a bouncy young girl with blonde pigtails and a missing front tooth, likes to stand out and is excited about possibly getting classes when her class goes for vision-screening. She prepares by trying out different glasses styles, much to the astonishment of Buster, her shyer friend. After their exam, both are glum - Carla because she doesn't need glasses and Buster because he does! Carla is happy for her friend though, until he explains that, while he knows she likes to stand out, he doesn't like everyone looking at him, although he's not worried about being teased. He just doesn't like extra attention. But Carla has a clever plan for the whole class to enjoy glasses and to make Buster feel better.
The illustrations are a little blurry and the kids' mouths especially have a slightly odd perspective. I've also noticed that the glossy paper Flashlight Press uses seems to tend towards books that fall apart easily. These minor quibbles aside, as well as my perpetual complaint about unrealistic class sizes (15 is better than the usual 10 I guess) this is a fun and relatable story. Carla is a much nicer kid than class clowns usually are, able to see others' perspectives and how they might not enjoy the same things, and her idea is very clever and fun.
Verdict: I wouldn't recommend this so much for kids getting glasses - it's generally not a big deal and I never heard of any modern kids being teased for it (although the cost of frames makes me wince at Carla's carefree fiddling with them at the shop) but this is a nice story about different personalities being friends. Pair it with A home for every bird.
ISBN: 9781947277717; Hardcover/Picture book on Baker & Taylor for $10.61
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