Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Joanne Anderton, NLA Publishing, $24.95.
Inspired by a true story, this new children’s picture book chronicles the adventures of The Flying Optometrist as he travels across Australia providing eye-health care to those in remote communities.
It’s a motivating story: about the author’s father who flew his self-built plane to provide eye-health care to remote communities. What amazing resilience and dedication.
It’s a grand story: the delightful picture book reveals, he travels in a little red plane from his practice in the city to a remote outback town. Of course, everyone eagerly awaits his arrival his arrival!
It’s not surprising then to realise the townsfolk wait with bated breath until the little red plane appears, having only just missed a bad storm. A big meal awaits him in the local hotel. Then he gets to work checking people’s eyesight.
The Flying Optometrist doesn’t have long, but he helps as many people as he can before returning to the city.
Here are some heart-warming situations. Aunty can’t see well enough to carve her emu eggs and Bill the plumber has a splinter in his eye. Young Stephanie can’t wait for him to arrive as she has broken her glasses and can’t join in games of cricket and have fun with her friends—she can’t see the ball. She has to wait a little longer for an exciting package to come—her new glasses!
Vividly illustrated by Karen Erasmus, this book is published in association with the Brien Holden Vision Institute. At the back of the book are informative non-fiction sections about the ‘real’ flying optometrist and the history of aerial services in rural Australia. You learn how planes bring help to the outback.
Even children will understand the value of eye care and the importance of helping those in rural communities.
Whose father inspired The Flying Optometrist? If you have answered correctly, you could be one of the two winners of this book.
Entries should be sent to [email protected] by next Monday, 28 May 2018. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column next week.
