Through the Magic Mirror

I borrowed this book from the library and fell in love with it instantly and have since bought it. My 16 month old does not as yet show a special interest in this book but I think it will come into its own when she's a little older. The pictures are bright and there are references to famous paintings in them. But there are oddities on nearly every page (like the dog walking a man) which are a great source of inspiration for talking to my bub and explaining what's out of place and when she's a little older I think will be a source of amusement for her to spot what looks a little odd. Very clever book!!

What a great story for children from ages 5 to 11. It fires children's imagination. The book has brilliant colourful pictures. However, it seems a bit dated now but that's ok because it enables the reader and the listener to compare the past with the present.

This is such a surreal book and an amazing visual feast! Toby is bored and doesn't know what to do with himself, he tries going downstairs but there's nothing to do, so he goes back upstairs and spots something strange in the mirror. 'Through the Magic Mirror' is a small book, around A4 in width and is filled with lots of thick and glossy pages of illustrations and a little text. The story is all about Toby's adventure through the magic mirror and what he sees when he's stepped through. The world beyond the mirror is very strange and completely surreal where nothing is what it first seems. There are invisible people walking, a window of a building is filled with fish swimming and a dog is walking a man! There are so many strange and surreal things and the book doesn't really make much sense but it's more of a visual experience than anything else. The illustrations are amazing and very Dali like in their appearance, which I love as Dali is one of my favourite painters. Each picture needs to be looked at more than once as some pictures seem normal at first and then you spot just how surreal things are! The book is really about the pictures and what you see and I love how colourful some of them are, it's a very strange and different world to the one we know. The ending of the book is satisfying although to be honest it seemed a bit strange when I first read it as the ending was so abrupt, but it's a great end to the visual experience Toby has and the book is a great illustration of how the imagination can take you on a journey. I have to say I do like this book for how surreal it is although I do wish there was a stronger story throughout like there was in the book 'Look What I've Got!' which is also by Anthony Browne. But seeing as the book was first printed in the 70s, it's still a great book which I'm sure many kids and adults will enjoy looking at, especially if you enjoy looking at surreal pictures! -Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy (as part of The Anthony Browne Collection).

Browne's books are among our favourites. Both my daughter (3) and I love Magic Mirror; it's a book that has stayed with me from my own childhood, which is why I looked for it, and my daughter has asked for repeat readings of it virtually every day since it arrived. The images are intriguing, the text is short and simple, and I love the references to Rene Magritte.

Great for children's imagination

A super Anthony Browne story which encouraged lots of speaking and listening activities in my class the children thought of lots of places they would like to go if they went through a magic mirror

Anthony Browne's books never fail to enthral me. I buy them for my grand daughter but truth be known its because I like reading them myself. Great thinking tools.

This seems ok, but nowhere near as good as 'the tunnel'

What a delightfully odd book! Young children love the magical thinking inherent in this story.