No Mirrors in My Nana's House: Book/Music Review

We try to go to the library about twice a month to replenish our stash of books. These days we really like to check out a few books with accompanying CDs. These are great for my 3yo, because he likes to settle in with some books on CD and flip through while listening to the story. I can occupy him for some time with this so I can do some work with the 7yo on math or spelling or something else. Last week I was flipping through the CD books when I discovered this book: No Mirrors in My Nana's House by Ysaye M. Barnwell with illustrations by Synthia Saint James.

The illustrations looked lovely, but I really picked it up because the front cover of the book said that the CD included a song version of the book sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock, a women's a cappella group which I've loved for years. I knew if they had done a song, it would be worth checking out.


Well, it certainly did not disappoint. The story is lovely, the illustrations perfect in their bright simplicity and the music with lyrics to match the book text is just right. This is wonderful story about a girl who says there are no mirrors in her nana's house. Instead "the beauty in everything was in her [nana's] eyes." The little girl never noticed that her clothes didn't fit, that the hallway was dirty, that her skin was too dark, or anything, because there were no mirrors and instead she found beauty looking into her nana's eyes. You can find the full text/lyrics here. Wonderful!


The kids loved the music which my 3yo would tell you is "jukin'." It's good dancing music which is a must around here. We did some great dancing this morning and then put it on after dinner so Daddy could hear it and we all could get in a little more dancing.


And the text of the book was great for conversation. I had 7yo think about what it meant and then we had a good discussion about finding beauty in others instead of just looking in the mirror and thinking "me, me, me." We also talked about how this book relates to the book From I-ville to You-ville which we read last year. Certainly it's about leaving our ego behind and focusing on the other. Then this evening, we talked about it again and how we find true beauty in being loved by another (and in loving others).


So, a bunch of thumbs up for this book - and for the music by Sweet Honey in the Rock. We just might have to add it to our permanent collection around here.