A-WOOF! For fans of the hugely popular CBeebies show, Hey Duggee: The Glasses Badge is a familiar and welcome story. Based on the television episode of the same name, this book uses the beloved characters of Duggee and the Squirrels to deliver a simple, fun, and empowering message about wearing glasses and overcoming obstacles to achieve your dreams.
What is “Hey Duggee and The Glasses Badge” About?
The story begins when the Squirrels meet Mole, who is sad because his blurry vision and loose-fitting glasses are preventing him from fulfilling his dream of being a stunt mole. Led by Duggee, the Squirrels work together to find a creative solution to keep Mole’s glasses securely on his face.
With his vision corrected and his specs in place, Mole is able to perform his amazing stunts safely. The story also references how Happy the crocodile got his own glasses after his mum took him for an eye test when he found things blurry.
The book concludes in traditional fashion where they are awarded their badge for the book/episode (in this case “The Glasses Badge”) and have a “Duggee Hug”.
Eye Care Themes in This Book
This simple story effectively introduces several key ideas for pre-schoolers:
Normalising Glasses Wear: Features a regular character, Happy, who wears glasses as a normal part of his life.
The Function of Glasses: It clearly shows that glasses are needed to correct blurry vision (myopia).
Spectacle Retention: It tackles the practical problem of glasses falling off during activity and the need for a solution.
Empowerment: The core message is that needing glasses shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your passions.
Jason’s View on “Hey Duggee and The Glasses Badge”
As an optometrist:
This book is a positive tool. It’s excellent for normalising glasses and provides a very simple demonstration of how blurry vision (myopia) can impact daily activities. The core message (that needing vision correction shouldn’t be a barrier to your ambitions) is fantastic and encouraging.
There are, however, a few minor points to note. The glasses on the characters are drawn splayed and poorly fitting; this is clearly a stylistic choice true to the show’s design, but it doesn’t model a good, secure fit. The story also bypasses the clinical process, with Duggee providing the solution rather than an optometrist or dispensing optician.
Lastly, and this is a very “picky optometrist” point, while the empowering message is great, parents of older children might eventually need to have conversations about how vision requirements can be a factor for certain professions (like HGV drivers or electricians), but for the target audience of this book, the positive message is absolutely the right one to send.
As a parent:
I love this book. If your child is a fan of the show, it’s an instant winner. The illustrations are bright, colourful, and perfectly capture the charm of the Hey Duggee universe. Furthermore, the story is engaging and the message that glasses can help you achieve your dreams is delivered with warmth and humour. A lovely little “Easter Egg” is a picture of what Mole sees when he puts his glasses on – Duggee as a real-life dog!
The main challenge with this book isn’t the content, but its availability. It seems to be discontinued as a standalone paperback and can be tricky to find. Therefore you may need to look for it second-hand, browse eBay or, as detailed below, purchase it as part of a larger boxset. Thankfully, the original episode is available to watch on BBC iPlayer, which is a fantastic alternative.
What Do Other Parents Think?
While reviews for the individual book are scarce due to its limited availability, it is highly rated where it does appear (5 stars on The Works website). The larger 10-book boxset on Amazon, which includes this story, holds a superb 4.8-star average. The comments consistently praise the Hey Duggee brand for creating engaging, high-quality, and much-loved stories for children.
Final Verdict
For any young fan of Hey Duggee, this book is a fantastic, positive introduction to the world of wearing glasses. Moreover, its message is simple, empowering, and delivered with the show’s signature charm. The biggest hurdle is tracking down a copy. If you can’t find it individually, the boxset is a great-value option for getting this story along with other Duggee adventures. And if all else fails, watching the episode on BBC iPlayer is a perfect substitute!
This book is hard to find individually, but is available as part of the “Hey Duggee: The Big Badge Book Collection” on Amazon. You can purchase the set by clicking the link below.
As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission on any purchases through this link. All earnings help with the running of The Eye Care Advocate.
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