This orig­i­nal folk sto­ry reads like a Sephardic Chelm-like tale set in Moroc­co. The sto­ry cen­ters on Estrel­la (named for the author’s own grand­moth­er from Casablan­ca) and her new­ly­wed hus­band. When the vil­lage cou­ple moves to the city, they quick­ly become over­whelmed by their new envi­ron­ment: the beau­ti­ful peo­ple, the size of their apart­ment, the excess in fur­ni­ture. Con­flict ris­es when Estrel­la and her hus­band sep­a­rate­ly mis­take them­selves in the wardrobe mir­ror for their per­ceived spouse’s new love inter­est. All too soon even the rab­bi is threat­ened by the man reflect­ed back at him. The sto­ry, humor­ous at times, with its deep, dark-toned tra­di­tion­al North African illus­tra­tions, ends a bit melo­dra­mat­i­cal­ly when the new­ly­weds con­firm their desire for each oth­er. The les­son can be one of many, includ­ing that some­times we should­n’t be so quick to judge the per­son star­ing back at us in the mirror!

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 9.