Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes

Julia Donaldson's Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes is a funny, magical read for 7 year olds about a shy girl and the bossy double who keeps hopping out of mirrors.

What happens

Ellen is shy and sensible. Mirror-Belle looks exactly like her, except that she says she's a princess (and she tells EVERYONE). She always seems to escape back into a mirror just as the trouble starts, so guess who gets the blame?

This is the third Mirror-Belle book and there are two stories in it.

In the first, Ellen is getting changed for ballet when Mirror-Belle leaps out of the changing-room mirror in matching ballet shoes. They're magic shoes, she says. Some shy elves made them in the night, and once she puts them on her feet won't stop dancing until the soles wear out.

Madame Jolie, the very strict French ballet teacher, is not impressed. Her accent is written out on the page ("Where ees your 'airnet?"), which is great fun to try out loud.

Mirror-Belle twirls off into the village. She dances into the middle of Mum's piano lesson, and Mum thinks it's Ellen. Then she turns up at the Battle of the Bands just as Ellen's big brother Luke starts singing, wearing clothes that aren't hers.

In the second story Ellen is at her grandparents' house for Easter. She looks through Granny's binoculars the wrong way round and out of the wardrobe mirror pops a TINY Mirror-Belle. She's sure she's at the top of a beanstalk in giant land, hunting for a stolen golden goose.

This one's a real treat. Mirror-Belle has her bath in a china sugar bowl and sleeps in Ellen's slipper. She also brings back some "stolen treasure" from under the giants' bed, which turns out to be Granny's ring and Grandpa's cufflinks!

The fun is all in Mirror-Belle never doubting herself for a second. Your reader will probably spot the fairy tales she's borrowing from (shoes made by elves, a beanstalk, a goose that lays golden eggs) long before Ellen catches up.

Ellen is lovely company too. She's a bit horrified by Mirror-Belle and a bit delighted, and she ends up taking her side even when she knows she shouldn't.

Each story is complete in itself, so it works nicely as two bedtimes or a first longer read on their own.

What to read next

If they want more of the same mischief, Princess Mirror-Belle and Prince Precious Paws comes next in the series. This time Mirror-Belle climbs out of a lake with a dog who looks just like Ellen's dog Splodge and behaves nothing like him.