Customer Reviews

Magic Mirror

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really love this book because even though it's quite short it teaches a lesson about not turning on people before you have more information. it's very well written, and quite cardesque, if you know what i mean.

I do not know what compels best-selling genre authors to write picture books for children, but many of them have done it, including James Herriot, Dean Koontz, Jeffrey Archer, and even Gabriel Marcia Marquez. As far as kids' books go, this one is pretty good. The story is simple, but the illustrations are unique, with every picture combining elements of medieval fantasies (castles, knights, dragons, abbots) and contemporary life (computers, scanners, office meetings). It is also interesting when the text says one thing, such as "Queen Heather mounted her steed", and the picture shows something different, like the Queen speeding off in a sports car. The subject matter is a bit mature; the pictures (more than the prose) imply acts of suicide and adultery. However, everything works out happily ever after in the end.

I was disturbed by this story. As far as I could tell, the message was: "Even if your husband ignores you and doesn't listen to your child when she says there's a problem, you should stay with him. Because when he's done with the really important stuff, like his job, he'll eventually come back to you. Oh, and kids who dress goth are unloving. They just need to discover the pretty pretty princess inside."

I did, however, love the illustrations. They're full of clever visual jokes merging modern and medieval images, like a guy being punished in the stocks...which is attached to a meter.

Magic Mirror is an interesting project for Card, who normally writes long novels. The trick of presenting a typical modern family in medieval style is amusing, though the story occasionally borders on being trite. The illustrations by Nathan Pinnock were great.

This one was very strange, very different. It's subtitled "a fable for adults." Without the illustrations, this book would have been lost. Neat idea though. The story is about a queen, a king, and their son and daughter. The queen feels alone and turns to her magic mirror where she sees images from other worlds, other peoples lives, and the goings on of others. One day she sees a particularly disturbing image that drives her to an almost unfortunate fate, but her children intervene. So you're thinking medieval times, right? Well the illustrations make this not just another magic mirror fairy tale. The illustrations show medieval times, but mixed in there is modern society. The magic mirror is a sort of computer screen showing her news from the world and videos of other's lives. The castle has a remote controlled garage, the daughter is a modern day goth, and sea shells are cell phones. The illustrations are not really my cup of tea, but their substance adds to the story. While it is certainly not the best or most well known story of Card's, it's still worth the read in my opinion. It's very unique.

Nathan Pinnock's fantastic illustrations make this book something worth reading over and over. The story is simple, yet has underlying meaning, so that children and adults probably read different things into the storyline. Using the fairy tale format to convey a general moral principle is catchy. I have often bought this as a gift for others.

A mythical family's upheaval is charted in Magic Mirror the story of dreamer Queen Heather, who grows up as a princess and plans on a happy life, until she discovers her family is falling apart. Her magic mirror takes her away from her sad life and shows her other lands: can it be harming her? Magic Mirror is an intriguing parable to modern life is created.

This is one of the most charming and meaningful fairy tales for "children of all ages" I have seen in years. The mix of fantasy and modern life makes every picture entertaining. The story is a good parable for our day, for both children and young adults.