#500 of 1001 · December 13, 2021

Let @suzyleebooks take you on a riveting emotional journey in her wordless picture book Mirror. A young girl sitting alone in a bare white void spots an identical child sitting across from her. They rise to their feet and begin to dance, the centerfold an unwavering line of symmetry between them. Streaks of color bloom between them as they leap and twirl in harmony. Then disaster strikes: the girls drift out of synchrony, begin moving independently, and grow angry with one another. The girl on the left reaches over towards the middle and pushes. Suddenly, the entire right-hand side of the expanse tilts backwards like a pane of glass, falls, and shatters. The remaining girl is left as lonely as downcast as when she started. The narrative raises more questions than it answers: What is the nature of this strange, empty place? Who is the girl crouching all by herself? Is she truly looking at her own reflection or interacting with a mysterious doppelgänger? These questions remain unresolved, and the tale ends on an unusual note of sadness, encouraging contemplation without offering satisfaction. Lee captures an impressive depth of feeling in her sequence of stark, powerful drawings in black, white, and yellow, supported by the ingenious core visual conceit of the gutter representing the mirror. #mirror #reflection #play #dance #anger #sadness #loneliness #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks