Celebrities to read bedtime stories to mark World Sight Day 2020

In an effort to increase awareness of the importance of seeing clearly, celebrities, athletes and authors today will mark World Sight Day by reading bedtime stories to children globally to mark the debut of the free digital children’s book Through the Looking Glasses: Stories About Seeing Clearly.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairmen

OneSight, Clearly and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) have teamed up to offer the digital book to the public to highlight the fact that more than 230 million children around the world need glasses, but do not have access to get them. The book includes 30 children’s stories with illustrations that focus on seeing clearly, and includes the work of authors and artists from 17 countries.

Stories from the book will be read by several celebrities, including Billie Jean King, Jo Frost, Michelle Yeoh, Princess Alia Al Hussein, Clark Gregg, Ethan Herisse, Selena Lee, and others. The stories will be read starting at bedtime in several countries, including the United States, Australia; India; Rwanda and South Africa; Canada; Jamaica, as well as Hong Kon

In the United States, stories will be read at 7 pm in the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones at www.onesight.org/worldsightday.

“Giving children the clear sight they need to thrive has a huge impact on their future – and ours,” said K-T Overbey, president and executive director at OneSight. “We are proud to partner with Clearly and IAPB to launch Through the Looking Glasses and Bedtime Stories, and hope it allows us to reach millions of parents and kids to raise awareness of the importance of vision needs for kids.”

Participation in the bedtime stories and downloading the book can be done online at www.onesight.org/worldsightday.

According to the WHO, it is estimated that 1 billion people around the world have a preventable vision issue or an impairment that has not been addressed. It also noted that impaired vision can have long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.