Cheeky Chimps Go To The Opticians: Making an eye-test a positive experience

“I’ve always been quite passionate about helping people” says optometrist Sachin Shah on his choice to work in optometry, a career he’s been practicing for 10 years. During lockdown, this passion drove him to write his first children’s book, The Cheeky Chimps Go to the Opticians.

Written for parents to read with children, the book follows five-year-old chimp twins Felix and Felicity as they go for an eye test. The idea of Cheeky Chimps is that it doubles as a story and as practical guide for parents and children to use before an eye test. 

So, what was it that made Sachin feel that his help was needed? Sachin recalls an incident when a very young and nervous child came in for a sight test. “When I took her to the room, she was frightened of being in the room itself”, he says. “The child was upset, I couldn’t do my test, the parent was getting frustrated. It was a bit of a nightmare situation to go through. So, following that, I just thought there must be something to make this a little bit easier.” 

Sachin decided to create a book to help nervous children with eye tests and enrolled on a writing course to find the best way to approach his project. A lot of work was involved. “I wanted to gather as much information as I could, before going ahead”, says Sachin. This meant calling on his extensive professional network to find out what difficulties optometrists experience when giving eye tests to young children, plus – crucially – getting the views of children and their parents. One of the things that parents, as well as children, wanted to see was a story where the characters needed glasses. But Sachin was keen to take this a step further, as he believes it’s important to show that having an eye test doesn’t mean the child always needs glasses – which is why the book has not just one character, but two. 

How have parents reacted to Cheeky Chimps go to the Opticians? There’s been lots of positive feedback, especially about the book’s practical use. Sachin mentions one message from a parent that stood out: their child had struggled to go for an eye test, so they bought the book. “When they went back for the test, they were doing each part of the journey [in the book], and the child was showing all the staff members where they were in the book”, Sachin explains. “That’s what really made it for me and that’s what I wanted to achieve”, he says.

And the book’s impact continues to grow. “The book started as a tool to help children with their first-time experiences, especially those anxious children. Now I’ve started to use it as a tool to raise awareness for children’s eye care, the importance of sight tests, and regularly being screened”, says Sachin. This has involved going into schools and speaking to reception-aged-children, which Sachin finds a very “rewarding experience”. 

Despite all the positive comments, Sachin says “I still don’t consider myself an author, I just want to try and help”. But he is planning to build on the book’s success by creating more books with illustrator Lauren Scott to form a Cheeky Chimps series. And Sachin has already decided to show that wearing glasses is part of normal life as Felix will continue to wear his in further books. “It’s now a part of his journey forever”, he says. So, keep an eye out for Felix and Felicity in their next adventure, The Cheeky Chimps go to the Dentist, coming soon!

Here’s the Cheeky Chimps website and Instagram for more information:

www.thecheekychimpsbooks.com or @thecheekychimpsbooks

~ Rebecca Sykes