Children's eyesight test book, London, England, 1979

Peter Rabbit children's reading test type book, by Keeler, London, 1979 Located at Science Museum Library at Wroughton. Shelfmark: 617.7 PETER

This book is devised for children. It is a form of visual acuity test. This means it tests the ability to discern letters of different sizes. The test tells the optician what standard of eyesight the child has. It can diagnose eye problems early in childhood. Many common conditions can be easily rectified at this point.

The book is based on the classic Peter Rabbit story by Beatrix Potter. The text is written in blocks of decreasing size. The child reads until they can no longer see the text. This is like a visit to the optician when we read off a chart at a distance.