Otto: The Story of a Mirror

by Ali Bahrampour

Otto is a mirror who lives and works at Topper’s Hat Store. His job is to stand still and reflect the customers as they try on hats. This is tedious work, especially for a mirror who dreams
of traveling around the world to exotic destinations. When Otto can’t resist playing a joke on Mr. Topper’s best customer, Curly Joe, mayhem ensues, but by a stroke of weird fate, Otto finds himself headed for a better place. The preposterous humor of Otto is taken a step further in the gleefully subversive watercolor illustrations.

Of this delectably offbeat debut, Maurice Sendak “Ali Bahrampour . . . has rifled through the treasure trove of American and European picture books of the last half-century and cooked up something fresh and delightful. Otto shows remarkable promise.”

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Mathematics

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Beautiful art, funny story

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto, a mirror in a hat shops, longs to see more of the world. One day, he purposefully makes the customer's reflections skewed and gets chased out of the shop to start his adventures in seeing the world. Along the way he meets another intrepid mirror. Very unique premise!

Fun illustrations.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've had this book for a long time, and I've always enjoyed finding new things in the illustrations. My daughter lately found it in the bookshelf, and it's now been her favorite book for weeks, being read every night. I love that for her, this fun book is her own discovery. :)

[s · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my favorit--but definitely bizarre. i'll give it two stars for sheer creativity. (best for older kids not ready for chapter books.)

[Danielle]

Pretty darn funny.