My daughter has Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) a condition where her brain has turned off vision to one of her eyes. Lazy Eye is often confused with the condition Strabismus - misaligned eyes (that deviates upward, outward, inward, or downward or some combination of the aforementioned). Often time the conditions go hand in hand - or usually one leads to the other. Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, the author of My Travelin' Eye, had both Amblyopia and Strabismus as a child. The book tells of Jenny Sue as a child and her vision adventure which includes going to the eye doctor, getting glasses & a patch everything surrounding those milestones.

This is a children's hardcover book intended for preschool and gradeschool age children. I purchased my copy of it from Amazon for under $15 after seeing a copy at my local library and having to have it for my daughter.  Even though my daughter does not have Strabismus a large portion of the book has to do with Jenny Sue getting glasses and having to wear a patch on her eye to correct her Lazy Eye.  I saw so much of my own daughter in little Jenny! 

The book is written from the perspective of a child, 7 year old Jenny Sue who kids will relate to. The illustrations are bright, fun, and capture the perspective of a child with vision issues perfectly. For example, after Jenny has to begin wearing a patch the pictures are drawn as if Jenny is seeing them - with a blur/foggy haze. The author of the book, Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw is also the illustrator and a artist.

Though My Travelin' Eye is a children's book it touches on tough topics like teasing at school, having problems at school, patching compliance, and more. I found so many talking points in this book to have with my daughter who at the age of 4, needs a constant reminder that other kids have problems seeing also and she isn't the only one who has to wear a patch. She could relate to Jenny Sue who didn't like wearing an adhesive patch over her eye and so she concocted "Fashion Patches" to help make wearing an eye patch every day easier. There is also a comment/observation that Jenny makes about the term "Lazy Eye" and that she isn't Lazy. This was the exact reaction that my daughter had when she learned that she had a "Lazy Eye".

The earlier portions of the book deal with Jenny Sue's Strabismus or "Travelin' Eye" and how she sees with her eyes separately and doesn't always focus in the same direction. Though my daughter doesn't have this condition, she understood that Jenny Sue had a problem with her eyes and that she needed to go to the eye doctor to get it fixed. The majority of the book is actually focused more on Jenny Sue's Amblyopia and needing an eye patch.

Don't let the title fool you, this book is for more than just kids with 'travelin' eye.


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Recommended: Yes