Book Review,by, Little Four Eyes, Ann Z.

Books about patching: Review“PatchLand Adventures: Fishing with Grandpa” “PatchLand Adventures: Fishing with Grandpa” by Carmen Swick is a book based on her son’s experiences with patching. Preston’s best buddy is his dog, Beau, and they do everything together, including wearing an eye patch to treat amblyopia. In this first Patchland Adventures book, Preston and Beau go fishing with grandpa. After a busy day of fishing, he heads to bed with his eye patch under his pillow. That leads him to dream of a world wear all the animals wear patches (and fly planes and play baseball). The next morning, he and his dog head to his eye doctor appointment where he learns that his eye is getting stronger, but he still needs to continue patching. His eye doctor also explains a bit about amblyopia and patching treatment. It’s kind of funny that this book, with a talking dog and dreams of other animals wearing patches, is really quite realistic, in some respects. I really appreciated the Preston’s honesty in the very first page of the book where he talks to his dog about needing to patch: “Mom says we have to put on our eye patches on so our weak eye can get stronger.” “I don’t want to wear it either, but we can do anything with a patch on.” This book is unique, too, in that it shows only the middle part of the patching journey – that long hard slog through patching every single day. It does not talk about the beginning of the patching journey, when a child first starts dealing with patching, and it doesn’t show an ending of the patching either. While Preston’s vision has improved at the end of the book, he still needs to continue patching. When Zoe first read this book over a year ago, she was in the midst of patching, and about to head out to her first follow-up visit. I really appreciated the fact that this book helped to raise the possibility that her doctor might tell her she’d need to continue patching (and indeed, that’s what happened). Zoe enjoyed the book, and I think, related to the character of Preston, who did not like wearing an eye patch, but still did so and continued to pursue his favorite activities while patching. The story is told all through dialogue between the characters, with Preston narrating the dream. It is laid out a little like a comic book, with each page a separate panel, and the dialog set near the character speaking it. The illustrations, by Joey Manfre, are simple and bold. It is not my favorite style of illustration, but it fits the story. The author, Carmen Swick, has written two other stories about Preston’s PatchLand adventures. Book two “Camping at Mimi’s Ranch” is expected to be published this fall. She writes more about her family’s experiences on her blog Patch Land Writings. Full disclosure: I did receive a copy of her book for free last year when Zoe was going dealing with amblyopia. I do not believe that has influenced my review.

Wyatt takes Patch Land Adventures book to school

I wanted to share this , Makes my heart so happy to hear that my book has helped ease Wyatt's eye patching journey & help educate others! karen Acker, Thank you so much for sharing! best of luck to you Wyatt! & you look so handsome with the patch! Book 2 will be out soon!

My son Wyatt (age 6) brought this book to Kindergarten the other day and his teacher read it to the whole class. She said it was wonderful, and the students really understood Wyatt and his patch so much better :) He's actually very proud of his patch and I've noticed he's much happier to wear it since we started reading your book - can't wait for more!

I just received the Denver Chapter momentum award! what an honor out of all the Chapters! It's all because of team work! way to go Denver! There will be a cure for Blindness!

Parker book signing- Hi Everyone! If you are in the Parker area this Sat.! I will be signing and selling my Children's book, along with some wonderful local authors of all different genres. Also there will be several local merchants with great sales going on! never to early to start that holiday shopping! Hope to see you! Carmen:-)

Favorite Children's book

What was your favorite Children's book? I liked Pippi Longstockings! Of course I think reading is very important in so many levels! and what a great bonding time and life long memoires! I am a Children's book author and I think it is so special to see a child turn a page on the book with excitment to see what's next!

Touching Email By Amanda

I just received this email & wanted to share this with you. This is very humbling and validating. There are so many reason's why people have to eye patch.Even though in the book it says that Preston has to Patch because of his Ambyopia, It still sends the same message about why you need to eye patch and the out come! And of course I will be contacting this lady send her a signed copy of Patch Land Adventures with the hopes that I can help to ease their patching time & direct her to other helpful sites, Also I am sure they will really like the adventures in the book! Wishing this little girl the best!- Hi. I just learned of your book & I was wondering if you ever donate books to libraries or anything? I would love this book but I can't afford it right now. I have 2 children & am on disability so am always broke. We could always check it out from our local library here if they were to have a book though. My youngest daughter will be 1 next month & my oldest will be 3 a few days after. I think this book would help my oldest to understand my younger daughter better & will help my younger daughter when she is a little older & can understand books. She was born with a cataract that was removed at 10 weeks old & she now wears a contact & we patch 4 hours a day while she is awake. She also developed Glaucoma because of the surgery. We are trying very hard to preserve the sight in her eye. I see on your blog you have the cover for book 2. I'm so glad you are making a series of books & not just stopping at one book! My oldest loves horses so I will have to show the cover to her & point out the boy wearing a patch like her sister. If you are interested in donating a book to the library here, I can contact them to see what needs to be done. I just thought it couldn't hurt to ask you. We would love to have the opportunity to read this book & anymore you write in the future! It would be an honor to us. Thank you for writing these books & for the blog. I know this is a huge help to many families. Amanda -- Carmen Swick www.patchlandadventures.com

What a wonderful morning I had at the La Petite Academy school in Parker, Reading my Children's book to a great little group of kids! Love the questions they ask! :)