Books

ClearVision’s books are mainly regular children’s books with the words added in braille, so they’re perfect for sharing. They range from board books up to short chapter books for children who are nearly reading independently.

Looking for large print instead? Try our friends at RNIB or Guide Dogs via our Resources Page.

We stock multiple copies of titles and all our books have been chosen with children who have no sight in mind - although many of our borrowers have enough sight to enjoy the bright colours of the illustrations. The books are chosen to be inviting, so we have lots of funny books, poetry, jokes and plenty of novelty books with tactile interest to encourage the youngest readers to begin exploring books. We have favourite authors and both fiction and non-fiction to tie in with school curriculums. Our readers' needs and choices guide what we put on the shelves.

Age

No-one’s too young or too old to borrow books from ClearVision! Research by our friends at Booktrust shows that reading with babies just a few months old has a positive impact on their later language, communication and development. This sharing is especially important for children with a visual impairment, so babies can join the library from birth. At the other end of the scale, we have lots of grandparent borrowers who love to share the gift of stories with their sighted grandchildren- our oldest borrowers are in their nineties!
We know that someone's “reading age” isn’t always the same as their age in years. Factors like moving from reading print to reading braille, learning disabilities or an education disrupted by sight loss or illness can all be factors. For this reason, we try to provide interesting, encouraging books which are suitable for beginner readers but age-appropriate for older children and teenagers.

Browse our catalogue to find your favourites! This link will open as a separate page: catalogue 

Types of braille

Most titles are available in both Uncontracted (“grade 1”) and Contracted (“grade 2”) braille, and we have a small selection of short books in the touch-reading language Moon. Our tactile books also include braille for those using it, but are also loved by children reading large print and children who aren't reading braille or print, but enjoy exploring the images as the words are read aloud to them.