The Mountain Jews and the Mirror

K-Gr 2—Newlyweds Estrella and Yosef journey from their remote village in the Atlas Mountains to the big city of Casablanca. Relatives help them to set up a small apartment and give Yosef a job selling carpets in the family's shop. After he leaves for his first day of work, Estrella walks to the market. When she returns to her new apartment, she is shocked to see a strange, beautiful woman inside. She runs screaming out of the house, distraught that her husband has taken another wife. Neighbors instruct her to go to the rabbi for advice. When Yosef returns home from work and enters the apartment, he is surprised to see a handsome man standing in the middle of the room. Assuming that his wife has found another husband, he, too, rushes to the rabbi for advice. Dumfounded by these two reports, the rabbi goes to the apartment to see for himself. When he opens the door, he sees another rabbi standing in the apartment. Finally, the neighbors figure out what is going on. While Estrella and Yosef were out, Estrella's cousins had brought a wardrobe with a mirror to the apartment as a gift for the couple. Having never seen a mirror, Estrella, Yosef, and even the rabbi mistake their own reflections for someone else. Once everything is cleared up, the young couple live happily ever after. Stylized acrylic illustrations in browns and jewel tones depict the exotic setting, clothing, and architecture of 19th- or early 20th-century Morocco. Readers may delight in the fact that they are able to solve the mystery before the rabbi. However, the slight story fails to provide readers with any historical context or insight into the Jewish community of Casablanca.