Mirror [Hardcover]

Jeannie Baker (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: November 9, 2010 | Age Range: 5 - 9 years

An innovative, two-in-one picture book follows a parallel day in the life of two families: one in a Western city and one in a North African village.

Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect them as well. Designed to be read side by side — one from the left and the other from the right —these intriguing stories are told entirely through richly detailed collage illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 4—In Window (1991) and Home (2004, both Greenwillow), Baker combined a concept, her signature collages, and a wordless format to underscore environmental issues. Mirror illuminates the common humanity beneath the surface of cultural differences. In a clever design, two sets of bound signatures face one another, the gatherings reversed from their normal location inside the spine; readers manipulate the two openings simultaneously. In parallel narratives, two boys awaken in the moonlight, accompany their fathers on an errand, and return home. In the story on the left, the destination is a hardware emporium in Sydney, Australia. Materials for an indoor fireplace are purchased and put in a van. The right side occurs in Morocco. Father and son mount a donkey and travel a long distance to sell a hand-woven rug and buy a computer at the market. After a family dinner, they turn it on and the Australians settle onto a fireside carpet matching the one in the other story. The size, shape, and number of the panels in one story are reflected in the other, a choice that assists with comparison. English and Arabic paragraphs introduce the visual narratives. A diagram indicates the right-to-left orientation of the Moroccan story. Baker's skill in orchestrating fabric, vegetation, clay, and other materials into scenes with the proper scale and convincing depth is a wonder to behold. The author's notes hint at her purpose and process. A fresh take on a timely and timeless message.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

This quiet, inventive, mostly wordless picture book follows two boys on opposite sides of the world through a single day, highlighting the differences and universalities in their lives. Meant to be read simultaneously, the stories appear side by side as separate mini-books bound within the same covers, while brief, introductory lines of text in English and Arabic introduce the boys, one in urban Australia and one in rural Morocco. The wordless accounts begin in strict parallel, with pages subdivided into symmetrical scenes of each boy�s family life, from breakfast to daytime excursions and finally to supper. Baker allows her stories to unfold naturally, and the cultural connections never feel forced; the boys investigate a curiosity at the market or remember a younger sibling, each in his own way. That sense of verisimilitude gives a depth to the simple, common experiences, which resonate across pages and cultures. In disparate, detailed landscapes rendered in her trademark style of three-dimensional, mixed-media collage, Baker creates a moving reminder of what we all share. Preschool-Grade 3. --Thom Barthelmess

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 5 - 9 years
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; Bilingual edition (November 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763648485
• ISBN-13: 978-0763648480
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 0.5 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Australia & Oceania
  • #40 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Africa

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome idea and illustrations January 6, 2011

By SeaShell

Format:Hardcover

I've become something of a wordless book junkie. I bring tons of them home for the kids and, as with other books, some hit the mark and some miss it. This one hit, but just barely.

Here's what we liked about it: The way the two stories, a life in Australia and a life in Morocco are presented, side-by-side with a similar story line, was ingenious. I love that the Moroccan story works right-to-left, just as it would were it written in Arabic, and the Australian story works left-to-right as in English. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story told through the pictures is an interesting one, to be sure.

Now my reservations: For my child, who is 4, the story line was a bit difficult to follow. It could have been the difficulty of following 2 story lines at once (he was similarly confused by Black and White, which has 4 concurrent story lines), or just the foreigness of the Moroccan story, or maybe the real issue was me and my desire for him to see the story as the author intended. At any rate, I found myself telling him the story to a greater extent than I normally do with wordless picture books. And maybe it is for that reason that he seemed far less interested in this book than he has been in his favorite wordless picture books. If you are using the book as a tool to help develop a child's storytelling skills, this may not be the best one out there. But as a way to learn a bit about the similarities and differences between two very different cultures, it is terrific!

ETA: A quick update - I've since read this book with older brother, who is almost 7. He was just the perfect age for it! He was able to follow the two stories simultaneously, and compare the pictures on each side of the page.... He was able to catch important details, like a carpet in the Australian house that appears to be like the one the Morroccan mother weaves. He was able to make the connection between the pictures of the Morroccan family drawing water from their well, milking their cow and gathering eggs and the subsequent pictures of the family eating those things for breakfast. He absolutely loved the book. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children November 9, 2010

By Yana V. Rodgers

Format:Hardcover

An urban household in Australia wakes up to a new day and gets ready for the usual activities of work and play. A different rural household in Morocco, a country in northern Africa, also engages in their daily rituals to get ready for the new day. The activities of both families involve traveling to work, buying and selling items in the marketplace, and relaxing together at night. But the settings in which these activities occur differ markedly, with a car-ride through congested highways to reach the hardware superstore in Australia, and a donkey-ride through the barren landscape to reach the distant outdoor market in Morocco.

Mirror uses contrasting side-by-side visual images to highlight differences in economic development and social norms in an Australian city and a remote Moroccan village. Making the book unique is the use of Arabic as well as English to communicate the narrative, as well as a stunning display of collages made with materials such as sand, clay, fabric, and tin. This sophisticated art work stands on its own to communicate an important lesson about differences and commonalities across countries.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic Carpet Ride January 12, 2011

By Catherine W. Hughes

Format:Hardcover

In Mirror, Australian author, Jeannie Baker, tells two wordless stories simultaneously, one in Australia and one in Morocco, in a double fold-out format. Like a mirror through time, the Moroccan boy's mother weaves a rug, while the Australian family takes it home from the "Magic Carpet Store." With beautiful collage artwork, the author-illustrator explores the difference between stranger and friend. This is a thought-provoking picture book for older children, ages 6-9, encouraging them to explore similarities and differences found around the world.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mirror review May 10, 2013

By Bronwyn O'Rawe

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It took a little time to get into the swing of turning the pages together. It is a lovely way of exposing the similarities between cultures making their differences less "scary".

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-bogglingly beautiful February 5, 2013

By Leslie Gordon

Format:Hardcover

My 4yo adores this book and has no problem following. It can be as complex or simple as the reader wants it to be. We talk about "a day in the life of a kid", and I let him tell me what he thinks is happening, and I have some suggestions. Or, I ask him to tell a story about what he sees; "next the boy and his Dad walked past a lake", etc. It really encourages creativity from both the adult and child. But most of all the artwork is stunningly beautiful, complex and carefully detailed. This will be a great book for years to come.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book January 8, 2013

By aicualg

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is so beautiful!
I am an adult but I bought it for myself.
It gives me so much joy to look into it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Recent Purchase February 12, 2012

By Amber

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a phenomenal example of multicultural literature. I would recommend this book to students both young and old.

4.0 out of 5 stars An important book December 20, 2011

By Debnance at Readerbuzz

Format:Hardcover

Jeannie Baker does it again. She creates two worlds, side by side, one that of a family living in a city in Australia, and the other that of a family living in Morocco, North Africa, with beautiful collages. Every image of life in Australia is reflected on an adjacent page with life in Morocco. The contrasts are fascinating but the similarities remind us that we are united as human beings.