Mirror

It's about time I covered something for our Arabic-speaking families.  So, without further adieu, salam and marhaban! 

THREE PROS

*There are a lot of superior qualities to be found in here, but my favorite had to be the way the author contrasted rural Moroccan life with the frenetic pitch experienced by residents of Sydney  

*Jeannie Baker's selection of materials in her collages makes every page pop and gives Mirror a uniqueness that illustrators using traditional writing instruments would have a tough time, um, mirroring
*While I had a few issues with reading the dueling storylines simultaneously, the idea itself is worthy of a KBR pat on the back

THREE CONS 

*I wish the publisher had chosen dimensions that were half the size of what I am holding, because it would have been easier to compare the details in each story if they weren't so darn far apart 
*Turning the pages is a chore for some reason -- perhaps thicker paper would have alleviated this problem 

*Putting the Qantas logo on the plane seems unnecessary given that the rest of the items presented lack any sort of identifiable brand name

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Baker's effort is inspired and no doubt memorable.  I thoroughly enjoyed her work and would recommend that any parent, regardless of language preference, check this book out of their local library.  However, I will not be awarding it a Buy today. Why?  Well, despite how perfect the pictures are in this primarily wordless affair (I cannot express how well thought out the contrast between cultures is), Candlewick Press' printing execution blunders were too much of a nuisance to ignore.  The good news is that these errors are easily remedied with a few simple fixes.  Let's hope that CP heeds my advice!    

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