Mira, Mirror

Mira, Mirror
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: Penguin Puffin
ISBN-10: 0142406430
ISBN-13: 978-0142406434

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who’s the fairest one of all?

Whatever happened to the magic mirror when the wicked queen in Snow White died? What actually was the magic mirror? Where did that wicked queen come from?

Mira, Mirror answers all that and more in this dark and interesting modern fairy tale that has very little to do with Snow White.

Mira, the poor daughter of a peasant is sold by her mother to a witch who requires an apprentice. Affection starved, she bonds quickly, desperately with the other apprentice, a beautiful dark haired girl who has her own nefarious plans and becomes Mira’s adopted sister.

The beautiful girl befriends Mira and shares her magic with her, but it is a dark and scary magic wrought from the killing of little animals. As the adopted sister grows more and more beautiful with the magic she steals by killing, her purpose becomes clear. She will become a queen at any cost. One day she tricks Mira into holding a mirror for her and Mira feels herself change to glass and wood.

Mira is now a mirror and forced to do her sisters bidding for years as she hangs trapped in the old witch’s ramshackle cottage. One day the sister queen never comes back and Mira is left hanging (literally) for 100 years until a peasant girl named Ivana finds her.

Determined to free herself, Mira convinces Ivana to take her with her as she escapes from an arranged marriage. This flight leads her right into Talia who has her own escape to make. She and Ivana switch places with Mira’s magic and things get really interesting. Their adventures take them through another fairy tale loosely based on Beauty and the Beast.

Mira, Mirror is an interesting and dark take on the two fairy tales. It is narrated by Mira who is a pretty complex character. The strong and determined women characters make the story very interesting and layered. These are girls who forge their own way and change their expected roles in unexpected ways.

The story shows how true friendship, love and respect can transcend even the darkest of souls and change lives. It shows that you can become something else if you try hard enough. Another thing I loved about it was that it shows that beauty isn’t superficial, it comes from within. I think that Mira, Mirror is an excellent book with strong role models.

Book description from the publisher:

Two sisters. One a witch and a queen. The other transformed by her sister's touch into a mirror—a mirror with voice and memory and magic, but no power to transform herself back to the girl she once was. And then, mysteriously, the queen disappears and another girl finds the mirror. This girl has troubles of her own, but she is also a means to escape and soon the girl and the mirror are on their way to find the magic that will bring both pain and hope to both of them. Mette Harrison's mesmerizing voice spins a breathtaking tale of love, lies, and redemption.

Penelope Jane: A Fairy's Story

Penelope Jane: A Fairy’s Story
Author: Roseanne Cash
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 006084230X
ISBN-13: 978-0060842307

"Tall as an eyelash, quick as a plane was the tiniest fairy, Penelope Jane..." Grammy Award winning singer, Roseanne Cash has written the most adorable little rhyming fairy story. Penelope Jane de la Fesser is an eyelash high French fairy that lives in her best friend Carrie's dresser drawer with her mother. One day she decides to go to school and promises not to be much trouble but unfortunately, Penelope Jane just seems to attract it trouble in bunches. Hmm reminds me of some little girls I know.

She gets stuck in a sandwich and falls into glue among other mishaps till the teacher sends her to sit in the corner. When the trash can catches fire and the school is in danger, Penelope Jane the quick thinking fairy remembers a song her mother taught her called How to be Strong and manages to save the day.

The rhyming story is upbeat and fun. Penelope Jane, although an unlikely and very small heroine is very winning and you find yourself cheering her on. Her sense of adventure is sure to get little girls to love her. She made me smile.

Bright and beautiful illustrations by G. Brian Karas really enhanced the book's sense of fun and adventure. His gorgeous images of fairies sitting at little acorn desks were so whimsical that they made me laugh aloud and exclaim over their beauty.

A CD with the song is included and really makes the whole package an experience. My granddaughter loves both book and song so much. She loves Penelope Jane and I think you will too.

Diego

Diego
Author: Jonah Winter
Illustrator: Jeanette Winter
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; Bilingual edition (January 9, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0679919872
ISBN-13: 978-0679919872

Diego is an information packed little picture book that focuses on the young life of famed Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera.

The book tells the story of Diego as a little boy, struggling with school and how his parents supported him in his art. It also tells that he was a twin born in Guanajuato, Mexico and that his twin brother died before he reached age two. Diego was then sent to live with an old curandera in the hills for fear that he would take sick and die as well. While being separated from his parents caused some trauma, for the most part his life with Antonia the curandera was pretty magical and influenced his art for the rest of his life.

Both the author and the illustrator have done such a great job in teaching small children about this very important artist. Diego’s love of his culture and homeland shine through the book as does his social conscience. His tumultuous personal life is not addressed and personally, I don’t think it needs to be for a book that caters to such a young age. They’ll figure that out later because they’ll have a great interest in Diego after reading this book.

Each page has a great picture done in the style of a Diego Rivera painting with succinct sentences that convey much in both languages. Each page is lavishly illustrated in Diego’s own style. Paintings are bordered in Mexican style with birds and other tropical nuances. There are some great illustrations of Diego as a little boy holding a paintbrush.

The Spanish translation is clear and simple. It flows easily. I think the book is great learning tool for children trying to learn Spanish or English as well as learning about art and the artist himself. Jonah Winter is so eloquent in the short sentences that he compels the reader to like Diego, want to try to understand him and know more about him while Jeanette Winter’s lovely and lively illustrations show her love of the subject and suggest that she was very influenced by this artist. Her brilliant color choices also reflect Diego’s love of nature and of Mexico itself. Highly recommended!

Book description from the publisher:


Diego was a boy who loved to draw; he drew on everything, even the walls. In time, he would become known as one of the greatest muralists in all of Mexico—in all the world. "An accessible picture book about the life and work of Diego Rivera sounds like an oxymoron, but Winter and Winter succeed beyond belief," announced School Library Journal in a 1991 starred review. With spare, lyrical text—featured in both English and Spanish on every page—accompanying miniature murals done in Rivera's own vibrant style, this celebrated picture-book biography now makes a much deserved return to hardcover after a seven-year absence.

The Flying Bed

The Flying Bed
Author: Nancy Willard
Painter: John Thompson
ISBN-10: 0590256106
ISBN-13: 978-0590256100

The Flying Bed is an incredibly beautiful book with an enchanting story. Newbery Award winning Nancy Willard tells the tale of the baker Guido and his wife Maria. Guido has inherited the bakery from his successful father but doesn’t have his skills. "Guido's icings were lumpy and his fresh bread tasted stale." Needless to say with that kind of baking going on, the customers go elsewhere, the business is dying and the couple is poverty stricken.

In desperation, Guido takes to selling just about everything they have to survive but when he sells the bed Maria puts her foot down. She will have a bed or she’ll move back home with her parents. So Guido heads off to find some kind of bed that will please Maria and be cheap enough for him to afford.

Guido takes a turn down an alley and finds a most unusual bed. It’s intricately carved and looks as if it were made for someone very rich. The shopkeeper tells him that the bed has chosen him and charges him nothing. Maria of course, is charmed by the bed and falls instantly in love with it. The first night however, the bed reveals is dark side and leaps out the window, terrified couple in to fly through the night sky of Italy. They encounter a Master Baker and things start to turn magical for the couple.

The Flying Bed is an amazing tale and the illustrations are just gorgeous. The paintings of the bed make it look almost alive and the aerial view of Florence is just stupendous. The book took my breath away. If you love art, Italy, and old fashioned fairy tales then this is the book for you. If you don't, you will after reading this. Highly recommended!

Buffy 2nd printing

Dark Horse announces second printing of

Buffy: Season 8!

Following the book’s release yesterday, Dark Horse will be going back to print on the much anticipated first issue of Buffy: Season 8. Since the book was announced last summer, Dark Horse has garnered a great deal of attention both in and outside of the comic market. With high profile press coverage, buzz among fans, and excitement from direct market retailers, orders exceeded the initial printing of over 100,000 copies!

“Admittedly, our expectations were already gigantic, but this has surpassed even those” says Dirk Wood, Director of Marketing. “We couldn’t be happier about how this has launched, and have high hopes for upcoming issues.”

“We've done something unique here. We've taken something really popular from the most mainstream of media, television, and we've transplanted it with total authority into comics” says Managing Editor, Scott Allie. “This is Buffy, by Joss, as much as the show ever was. And the sales seem to suggest that people are getting the message.”

The upcoming second printing will feature a full bleed version of the breathtaking Jo Chen cover, with some of the design elements removed for a cleaner, and more stripped down look. This new version will be arriving in stores with an on sale date of March 28, just a week before the release of issue #2. Dark Horse encourages retailers to backorder Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1 with confidence, as orders will be filled in full with the new printing.

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist
Author: Liz Kessler
Illustrator: Sarah Gibb
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763633305
ISBN-13: 978-0763633301

In the third book in the series, Emily is now going to school on Allpoints Island learning things like how to decorate her tail, search for ocean treasures and comb out her hair. Her mother the human isn’t thrilled with this type of education and wants something a little more educational like history. Her father the merman thinks it’s fine and is proud of his daughter. Needless to say, this is causing some arguing. Beyond that the parents are adjusting to living together again after the long enforced separation so there’s bound to be some clashes. Emily thinks they’re splitting up and she’s having some heavy anxiety about it.

One day while treasure hunting for a school project, Emily discovers an old diamond ring. She puts it on and her life starts to change again and not for the better! The diamond turns out to be part of a long hidden secret of Neptune’s. When he finds out she has it, he curses her – in just a few days she’ll no longer be half-human, half-mermaid. She’ll have to choose which one she’ll be and which parent she’ll live with and which she will say goodbye to forever unless she can figure out how to break the curse.

Emily sets off to find a way to change her destiny and get out of this mess. She finds a mysterious castle in the mist, a boy who seems to hold the key to the mystery and a whole lot of trouble.

I’m a fan of Emily Windsnap. She’s smart, she’s spunky, she can be brave, but mostly she’s just an ordinary teenaged girl that just happens to have a tail. She deals with issues most teens these days have, like parents not getting along, homework and fitting in with her friends.

What I like about the Emily books is how there’s always real problems going on that get intertwined with the magical and fanciful. Yes, there’s a long time magical curse to break but the heart of the matter is that Emily’s worried about her parents, divorce and which parent to live with. Those are very real, very common issues that kids can relate to. What shines through this book is the very real love Emily has for her parents and they for her. It also makes it very clear that life isn’t easy.

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist is an enchanting ocean mystery that girls will love.