A wonderful little story for younger children that teaches love you for you. Self confidence and self love shine through.

This book focuses on the protagonist Macie's perceptions of herself. She starts off as a secure, confident young girl until she meets a girl named Penelope who makes her start doubting her beauty. While I agree with the lesson in the story, which is that we should all love ourselves, I think that that the way it was presented was too shallow. Macie's father is the one who teaches her to love herself, but only a few pages are dedicated to that. Call me picky, but it also made me feel a little uncomfortable that it was a man who told Macie that she was great. Still, using a mirror was a helpful way for the illustrator/author to get students to start thinking about the ways they perceive themselves.

Self-love is important and this book will help motivate little girls to feel good about themselves.

Macie seems to be the most popular girl in her class until...you guessed it, someone else seems to be claiming that spot. Macie is very upset and does not go to school the next day. With a magic mirror and a loving dad, Macie learns to accept and love herself while knowing that she does not have to be perfect.

I liked the idea of this story and its central message of self-acceptance. However, I do feel that this book could have been a bit more. The spots that the mirror gives Macie are symbolic and represent what she sees as flaws but this concept may not be clear to children. However, it may be a title that will be helpful to young perfectionists. It could open up discussion between adults and children.

Thanks to NegGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? To be perfect? But in whose eyes are you perfect? Does perfect in your eyes, say perfect in another's? Macie learns that she is perfect the way she is and she shouldn't doubt herself or feel bad about her looks just because she is different from someone else. A wonderful story on body image.
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Macie is like every overachiever who found out that they are flawed but perfect. Her self confidence stumbled a bit when a new kid came on the block and she lost her favorite spot. Macie felt so wounded she talked herself into a mess until the light was shown to her. One of the things this book teaches kids is that loving themselves helps build their self-confidence.

Cute story about accepting who you are. Macie has a "magic" mirror of sorts... but it's not showing her the truth. I did feel the story was a little on the nose. And I wanted more interaction with the girl Penelope.

I really liked the Illustrations!

Good concept about self love and acceptance but I think the execution could be much better. I wasn't a big fan of the idea of the spots. I think for Macie to look in the mirror and see nothing physically wrong with herself at all, would have made a bigger impact. 'I see nothing wrong with me so why do I feel this way' kind of direction about it being what's on the inside that counts. I do however love that she threw her mirror away in the end, best part of the story. I don't think this book would suit 5 year olds though, I think it would go right over their heads. Around 7 and up might be a better target audience.

Sweet story about self-esteem, but it felt very short.
I would purchase this for my library, but I am not sure I would include it in a storytime.

This book focuses on self-image for children. It was a good story, but I found it to be so short. I would have liked to see a bit more struggle before she realized she was fine just the way she was.

Super cute story about self acceptance!
This is a great way to teach tiny humans about being themselves.
Thank you NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for my DRC.

Nothing like a little book on self esteem! Macie wants to be perfect, but her mirror shows otherwise. Macie's dad saves the day! I liked the story, short and simple. Illustations were the same- bold and simple. Nothing fancy here, just a nice, easy story.

Macie is popular at school. She's a perfectionist, and everyone seems to like her. But then a new girl shows up and Macie is sort of forgotten. She thinks maybe she's not that great. As she sadly looks in the mirror, the mirror tells her (yeah, the mirror talks) that when she wakes up the next day, she'll be perfect. In the morning, Macie rushes to check out her new and improved self, only to notice a green spot on her face. As the day goes on, she gets more and more spots in various colours. When she questions the mirror, it tells her that it's only showing her what she sees. Her dad comes to check on her, gives her self-esteem a boost, and tells her the most important thing is that she loves herself. She goes back to school, where things are okay, and then she throws away the mirror.

I don't get it. If she expected to see a perfect version of herself, why did she see spots? What does that have to do with the new girl getting all the attention? I mean, maybe I'm overthinking something that's so obvious that I can't see it, but it just doesn't make a lot of sense. And I feel like the new girl is really underutilized; sure, we see her and Macie sitting together at lunch on the last page, but we don't really see much resolution to the conflict. (That last page is weird, anyway. The book suddenly decides it wants to rhyme.)

The illustrations are quite cute, and could have really worked had the story been better. But there's just so little to it, and what is there doesn't make a ton of sense. Yes, Macie was projecting her fears onto herself and seeing ugly spots where there weren't any. But are five-year-olds going to understand that her subconscious was creating visual hallucinations because of the way she was projecting onto her classmates? (I mean, the other kids didn't even say anything! All of Macie's insecurities were based on her own perception of events.) This book might work for a college-level psychology course, but I think it's going to be a bit much for kindergartners.

A good book, with a very valid lesson – I only hope it gets across as well as I and the book's creators intend. Jealous of the bright, popular new girl in her class, our heroine checks for an improvement in her bedroom mirror – but instead sees herself as worse than she thought, then worse than that and worse than that still. Self-worth, internal beauty and the whole idea of being perfect for other people's opinions of you – all are valid issues looked at simply here. To repeat – it's a moral many people should endeavour to learn. I fear this book would need a wise adult to back it up, however.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Macie's Mirror is a great book for promoting self-confidence. Her dad teaches her the message that loving herself is the most important thing she can do. The pictures are cute and the text is short but effective. This is a great read for any kid really but especially one that is struggling with self-confidence.

The graphics in this book are cute, the bold words really put an emphasis on certain words. The overall message of the book is to love yourself and believe in you!

Macie’s Mirror by Adam Ciccio (and illustrated by Gertie Jaquet) is a sweet story of what one sees in themselves and what others see and how contrasting it can be. We are often the hardest on ourselves.

Right off the bat, I love the illustrations of the various faces for Macie both in the beginning and at the end of the book. These illustrations would be a great tool to use with children and discuss each picture and talk about feelings. 

I can’t say enough how much I love the illustrations in this book. They are vivid, vibrant, and detailed. A reader could spend time just gazing at all the details.

The author’s use of imagery helps the reader slow down and examine the illustrations and what is being conveyed in the story about Macie. Using colors, bolded words, and easy-to-read sentences capture a reader’s attention. I also liked how some sentences rhymed but still packed a powerful message. I think kids will enjoy this fast-read book and the story’s message.

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@clavisbooks

This book is wonderful! A great book to show that we don’t always have an accurate perception of who we truly are, and that self love is important. A very powerful message in a concise book. (I was able to read this book for free, and these views are my own.)

A good story for young children with plenty of illustrations. Had my granddaughter been a little younger, i would have purchased this book for her. She is always worried about her appearance! Recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, voluntarily given.