We'll Need a Bigger MirrorWe’ll Need a Bigger Mirror

by Shmulik Shir, Julia Po (Illustrator)

DETAILS:
Publication Date: August 9, 2022
Format:  PDF
Length: 27 pg.
Read Date: August 27, 2022

What’s We’ll Need a Bigger Mirror About?

First, never fear—the title isn’t an age-inappropriate Jaws reference.

What it is about is a little boy on his birthday receiving very strange gifts from his family. We’re talking Aunts and an Uncle who have never shopped for a child before—Joey and Chandler shopping for Christmas gifts at a gas station level. The boy tries to be grateful, but it doesn’t look he’s going to be able to keep that going.

Then his favorite aunt arrives with a big box—and after some speculation, he opens it to find a gift that no one could expect (and from a parent’s point-of-view, makes the other horrible gifts look better). The boy is thrilled, and well, he’s going to need a bigger mirror soon.

The Illustrations

The art is very cute. I’m not sure if I spent another 50 words describing it that I’d be able to do better than that one word.

I really appreciated the distinctive looks she gave the adults, that was a nice bonus. The content of Aunt Patricia’s box as another highlight.

I was sure I recognized Po’s work and went looking through her bibliography (and my posts) to see if I’d read a book she’s illustrated before. I haven’t, and that’s a shame.

So, what did I think about We’ll Need a Bigger Mirror?

There’s an absurdity to the gifts the boy gets that I can see working really well for the under-5 demographic. It feels like the kind of story a grandparent or parent would make up on the spot to get someone to settle in for the night—and there’s a warm charm to that.

I don’t know how this would hold up to repeated readings—I think a lot of the enjoyment for the preschool crowd will be in the surprise. Once that’s gone, I don’t know if the story will hold up. It really might—that’s the kind of thing that’s hard to predict. A good deal of that is going to come down to the adult doing the reading.

As for the adults reading this? I think this will fall under the category of “will read it because the kid(s) asked” not “will read it with them because you enjoy it, too.” Which is fine, I had a big stack of those when my kids were in that demographic, but I thought a bit of forewarning was called for.

In the end, this is a strange and appealing little book that will likely entertain the target audience at least once.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion.

3 Stars