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Mirror
Mirror
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● Winner of the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration – Suzy Lee's classic work!
● The first book in Suzy Lee's "The Border Trilogy." The Chinese edition is finally complete! A boxed set is also available!
● Explores the boundaries of physical books and the border between fantasy and reality. A pure, profound, and brilliant masterpiece.
● The Chinese edition specially includes an introduction to "The Border Trilogy" written by Associate Professor Lan Jian-hong from the Graduate Institute of Children's Literature at National Taitung University.
"Mirror" is astonishing in its simplicity and elegance, an outstanding work with brilliant visual effects. Without words, writer and illustrator Suzy Lee skillfully uses images to create a little girl's inner world of exploration. As the opening work of the renowned "The Border Trilogy," the book's design uses the "gutter" to suggest a mirror surface, serving as the boundary between reality and illusion. The interaction between the girl and the mirror is seen through the effects on both sides of the pages. The initially symmetrical images suggest to readers that the story takes place both inside and outside the mirror.
This is a picture book with extremely minimalistic visuals, but it hides many clever details that require readers to repeatedly ponder to discover their charm. From the Rorschach inkblot patterns on the endpapers and the infinite mirror image on the title page, visual hints are given to the reader. Entering the story, a girl cries in a corner and discovers the existence of a mirror through the appearance of another identical figure. She covers her face in fright, and page by page she gradually walks into the center of the book, closing the distance to the mirror image, making contact with it, and the two happily play and spark... Finally, the girl even enters the book's gutter. Then, the mirror images no longer correspond, and the girl and her reflection seem to drift apart again. The angry girl then pushes hard on the gutter, and the result is...
The story uses the mirror surface to present themes of repetition and cycles in the visuals and page sequence, exploring inside and out, reality and illusion. In the latter half, the person and the reflection are out of sync, with the right side repeating the pose of the left side of the previous spread. The author uses the same elements to create a changing rhythm. Moreover, the girl on the first and last pages, although in the same pose, has changed positions. After reading the entire book, is the girl on the left page the protagonist and the girl on the right page the reflection, or vice versa? The transitions between reality and illusion throughout the book are intriguing and constantly demonstrate Suzy Lee's cleverness.
The story also makes us ponder the distance between self and inner self; how do we cope when our outward appearance and inner state are at odds? Although "Mirror" is not as lively and vibrant as "Wave" or "Shadow," it leads us into a reserved, profound psychological world, offering readers deep internal reflection.
Suzy Lee once said in an interview: "The girl in the sleeveless dress in 'Alice in Wonderland' was actually myself at about 6 years old. I think I must have loved that dress because I have several photos wearing the same one (or did I only have that one dress?). This little girl also appears in my 'The Border Trilogy': 'Mirror,' 'Wave,' and 'Shadow.' They are not necessarily the same person, but they share the same qualities – a child's curiosity, bravery, and boundless energy. I'm not saying I'm that kind of person, but those are qualities I want to keep. I love the picture book genre because it always faces children, always speaks to children."
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● The first book in Suzy Lee's "The Border Trilogy." The Chinese edition is finally complete! A boxed set is also available!
● Explores the boundaries of physical books and the border between fantasy and reality. A pure, profound, and brilliant masterpiece.
● The Chinese edition specially includes an introduction to "The Border Trilogy" written by Associate Professor Lan Jian-hong from the Graduate Institute of Children's Literature at National Taitung University.
"Mirror" is astonishing in its simplicity and elegance, an outstanding work with brilliant visual effects. Without words, writer and illustrator Suzy Lee skillfully uses images to create a little girl's inner world of exploration. As the opening work of the renowned "The Border Trilogy," the book's design uses the "gutter" to suggest a mirror surface, serving as the boundary between reality and illusion. The interaction between the girl and the mirror is seen through the effects on both sides of the pages. The initially symmetrical images suggest to readers that the story takes place both inside and outside the mirror.
This is a picture book with extremely minimalistic visuals, but it hides many clever details that require readers to repeatedly ponder to discover their charm. From the Rorschach inkblot patterns on the endpapers and the infinite mirror image on the title page, visual hints are given to the reader. Entering the story, a girl cries in a corner and discovers the existence of a mirror through the appearance of another identical figure. She covers her face in fright, and page by page she gradually walks into the center of the book, closing the distance to the mirror image, making contact with it, and the two happily play and spark... Finally, the girl even enters the book's gutter. Then, the mirror images no longer correspond, and the girl and her reflection seem to drift apart again. The angry girl then pushes hard on the gutter, and the result is...
The story uses the mirror surface to present themes of repetition and cycles in the visuals and page sequence, exploring inside and out, reality and illusion. In the latter half, the person and the reflection are out of sync, with the right side repeating the pose of the left side of the previous spread. The author uses the same elements to create a changing rhythm. Moreover, the girl on the first and last pages, although in the same pose, has changed positions. After reading the entire book, is the girl on the left page the protagonist and the girl on the right page the reflection, or vice versa? The transitions between reality and illusion throughout the book are intriguing and constantly demonstrate Suzy Lee's cleverness.
The story also makes us ponder the distance between self and inner self; how do we cope when our outward appearance and inner state are at odds? Although "Mirror" is not as lively and vibrant as "Wave" or "Shadow," it leads us into a reserved, profound psychological world, offering readers deep internal reflection.
Suzy Lee once said in an interview: "The girl in the sleeveless dress in 'Alice in Wonderland' was actually myself at about 6 years old. I think I must have loved that dress because I have several photos wearing the same one (or did I only have that one dress?). This little girl also appears in my 'The Border Trilogy': 'Mirror,' 'Wave,' and 'Shadow.' They are not necessarily the same person, but they share the same qualities – a child's curiosity, bravery, and boundless energy. I'm not saying I'm that kind of person, but those are qualities I want to keep. I love the picture book genre because it always faces children, always speaks to children."
