From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4. An appealing premise in a picture book that doesn't quite reach its potential. A fifth-grade girl practices her writing skills by recounting an event that happened the year she was seven. An antique mirror is temporarily stored in her bedroom and begins to reveal magical powers. At first the child just observes its many scenes. Soon, she is an active participant in those magical worlds. The richly colored paintings are typical of Day's style, now familiar from the "Carl" series (Farrar). The girl appears quite believable and natural in all of the scenes?whether making faces at the mirror, flying on a magic carpet, or decorating eggs with a giant rabbit family. Unfortunately, the text is not as consistent as the illustrations. At times, the narrator sounds like a spirited school girl. At other times, she sounds like an adult imitating a child's voice. The intended audience is not clear. Younger children will accept the magic much more readily than 10 year olds, but the theme of reality, fantasy, and magical periods in life may be lost on young readers. Chris Van Allsburg is still the master of the illusionary picture book.?Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Ages 4^-7. A fifth-grader narrates this story about the magical mirror that hung on her bedroom wall when she was seven years old. At first the little girl only suspects that the mirror shows things other than ordinary reflections, but when she taunts it by saying, "You're just a plain old mirror after all," it teases her back with a series of reflections reminiscent of fun-house looking glasses. Soon the child enters into scenes shown by the mirror: standing atop a prancing circus horse, watching mermaids from a sailing ship, and riding a flying carpet above a snowy landscape. Though she no longer has the mirror, the narrator hopes that some day she'll find another. Children who enjoy this fanciful picture book will undoubtedly hope to find their own. Though the idea behind the story is a bit static, the lively watercolor illustrations carry it out with enough spirit, style, and humor to please young viewers.
Carolyn Phelan
