Mirror by Jeannie Baker

Mirror, by Jeannie Baker, 2010, Sommerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press (9780763648480)

Awards: Winner of the Children's category at the 2011 Indie Book Awards.

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.jeanniebaker.com

Media used: collage, mixed media

Annotation: Two side-by-side stories tell of the lives of two families, one in Australia and one in North Africa.  The illustrations show how they do similar activities in different ways, and how family is important in all parts of the world.

Personal Reaction: When I first opened this book, I was very confused.  I couldn’t figure out how to turn the pages!  Then I realized that the left side of the book opens like a normal book, and the right side of the book opens in the other direction.  This is done so that you can read the side of the book that tells of life in Africa from right to left, just as they read books, and you can read the side that tells of Australia from left to right, as they read books.  Although this book only has words on the first page, this book is very appropriate for older readers.  In this case, the lack of words makes it so that the reader has to think more in order to interpret the story and the meaning.  This book’s lessons and differences would be lost to a younger reader.

Published 2010/2011