Books Like Mirrorscape
Some paintings are so beautiful or captivating that they can cause observers to forget about their surroundings for a while. Many paintings are also so idyllic that many observers fantasize about what it would be like to step inside them to escape from reality. For these reasons, it's not surprising that there are authors who have imagined paintings to be magical doorways to other worlds or realities. For example, Mirrorscape by Mike Wilks sees Melkin Womper who is an apprentice to a master painter, stepping through paintings into a world where the bizarre is commonplace and all logic is irrelevant. For more stories aimed at younger readers where paintings act as doorways to other places check out the following books like Mirrorscape.
Behind the Canvas
By Alexander Vance
Claudia Miravista is the heroine of Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance. She loves art, but can only see what is on the surface of paintings until one day a Dutch boy named Pim appears in the painting hanging in her room. Claudia learns that there is a world behind the canvas and that Pim has been trapped there for centuries by a power-hungry witch. Pim believes that Claudia is his only hope for escape, so she enters the painting and sets out to free her new friend by destroying the witch’s most cherished possession. However, Cladia also discovers that nothing in the world of the painting is quite as it appears on the surface.
Beneath the Swirling Sky
By Carolyn Leiloglou
Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou is the story of 12-year-old Vincent who is determined to be done with art after a bad experience. However, his parents attempt to reconnect him with art by driving Vincent and his sister, Lili, out to a family member who is some kind of art restorer. For Vincent, this means a whole week of spring break spent in the middle of nowhere Texas with no cell service. Unfortunately, when Lili disappears into one of the world’s most famous paintings, Vincent discovers that his parents have been hiding a secret from them. They are the last of a secret society with the power to travel through paintings and it is up to Vincent to get Lili back.
The Shadows
By Jacqueline West
The Shadows is the first novel in The Books of Elsewhere series by Jacqueline West. Olive is an eleven-year-old who moves into a crumbling mansion with her parents. Olive finds the place, which is filled with mysterious paintings, very creepy but then she discovers that it is also home to three talking cats. Olive also finds a pair of antique spectacles stashed away in the house, which allows her to travel inside the house’s spooky paintings to a place called Elsewhere. There she meets an unusual boy, who along with the three cats, teams up with Olive to save the house from the shadows.
The Painting
By Charis Cotter
The Painting by Charis Cotter is the story of Annie Jarvis, a young girl who is the exact opposite of her mother. While Annie loves art her mother has no interest in it. So, when Annie finds a painting of a lonely lighthouse in their home she is immediately drawn to it while her mother prefers that it would stay banished in the attic. Sadly, Annie’s mother slips into a coma following a car accident and this is when strange things begin to happen to Annie. Not only does she find herself falling into the lighthouse painting, but she also meets Claire, the girl living there. When Claire tells Annie that she also has a strained relationship with her mother, Maise, who is the artist behind the painting. Annie immediately girl tries to help the two find their way back to each other with the hopes it will mend her own relationship with her mother too.
Konrad and the Birthday Painting
By Sandra R. Andersson
Konrad, the protagonist of Konrad and the Birthday Painting by Sandra R. Andersson is a perfectly normal 8-year-old just trying to get through a perfectly normal school day. Unfortunately, Konrad is also the target of bullies in the 5th grade, who cause him to be late for class and end up outside the principal’s office. However, in the process, Konrad ends up in possession of a pair of sunglasses with seemingly magical properties. The sunglasses allow the wearer to enter paintings and with them, Konrad might be able to help his favorite babysitter from being falsely accused of a serious misdeed.
The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie
By Kirsty Murray
The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie by Kirsty Murray sees the titular protagonist very excited about Christmas and the prospect of her older sister Claire, coming home from college in France to celebrate with her. Unfortunately, Claire has a terrible accident and Lucy’s mother has to rush off to be with her. For Lucy, this means having to spend Christmas and the summer holidays with her aunt who lives in an isolated country house. Lucy is left feeling lonely as Christmas approaches but then makes the startling discovery that she can enter the floor-to-ceiling paintings of the four seasons that hang in her aunt’s dining room. On the other side, Lucy finds a world of adventure as well as a girl named April who looks just like her.
