“Mirrors, throughout literature, are omens and traps. They are soft enough to walk through, like mist; they are riddles that shatter upon reflection; they are magic. And what they reflect back may not have anything to do with us, or if it does have to do with us it’s the hide to our seek … On the cover of Zebra in the Mirror (Crocodile Books, 36 pp., $18.95, ages 4 to 8), written by Tina Arnuš Pupis and illustrated by Marta Bartolj, a bright sun’s center cheerfully exclaims, ‘Read this book from front to back or back to front!’ What at first feels like a magic trick, or a two-for-one, reveals itself to be a potential palindrome broken by an existential crisis. When read from front to back, the book imparts an essential message about being kind to your reflection. When read from back to front, the sky gradually darkens and the story ends with Zebra staring into still waters that reflect an animal she cannot seem to love, reminding us that self-acceptance is not a straight line but a ruminative spiral. Each page is dappled with black ink, as if Zebra’s stripes have permeated the air of the grasslands she grazes, because don’t landscapes reflect the beings that inhabit them?”

 

“Bartolj invites the reader into a narrative about one zebra’s self-discovery of confidence and body image while offering the audience to enjoy the story by reading it from front to back or back to front … This book is perfect for elementary and middle school students, allowing them to converse about self-confidence and body image. Our reflection will always show our true selves, but how we hold our unique characteristics positively or negatively makes all the difference. Zebra perfectly demonstrates how to find self-love from within and passes this message thoughtfully to the audience.”
— Children’s Literature