MIRROR MIRROR: A BOOK OF REVERSIBLE VERSE Book Review

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Singer, Marilyn. Mirror Mirror, A Book of Reversible Verse. Ills. by Josée Masse. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 2010.  ISBN 9780525479017

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Mirror Mirror is a collection of unrhymed poems of familiar fairy tales that are written forward and in reverse giving the story another magical beginning and ending from a contrasting viewpoint. The first perspective follows the context of the traditional tale and the opposite view is written from the same lines but are placed on the page in reverse order, that is, the bottom line is read first. Two poems are a dare to writing reverse poems and the other twelve revel in the characters of the classics from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast and more. The reader will marvel in how the play on words has developed the other characters along with the vibrant illustrations conveying hints about them.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Singer has developed an inventive, imaginative play on words in her creation of “reverso” poetry. The collection of fourteen unrhymed poems invites the reader to read the poem from our favorite fairy tale character’s outlook and then read it again from another character’s point of view giving a different meaning to the poem. The poetry picture book is written in simple, amusing and clever language for children from four years old to eight years old, but many readers will be drawn in by the specifics of the lines linked to the images. Each page is written explicitly along two halves of the page and the corresponding artwork is similarly divided.

The poems are distinguished by changes in font and each is written on either a yellow or white background halving the page in longitudinal panels. The only changes in the poems are in punctuation and grammar as the reader reads top to bottom and then the reverse. In a double page layout, the original character’s view is written in blue ink on the first half of the panel and the opposite character’s opinion is in red ink on the second half of the panel. The opposite page is halved with images of the first character in the poem and clearly defined opposite side panel with the second character. The illustrations are bold, vibrant blues, greens, reds, yellows, and golds utilizing lines, curves and shading to create divisions with halves and quarters to define the opposing characters.

My favorite is, Longing for Beauty, telling the story about how the Beast longed for love on the first panel and on the second how Beauty fell in love with the Beast. The image shows the Beast’s chest with half a heart showing an image of Beauty and the second panel is of Beauty with the other half of the heart and a picture of Beast. Their hands overlap onto each other’s page, one holding a bird and the other the rose. It is amazing when the identical words are read forward and then backward with a completely different meaning. In the beast’s poem the words, “Beneath the fur, look! A soft heart stirs, longing”. He is seeking love. Then Beauty responds with the same words but read in reverse order, “Longing stirs a soft heart. Look beneath the fur.” She could love the beast. The first poem begins with, “A beast can love beauty”. We can remember how a spell was placed on him to find someone to fall in love with him. Then Beauty’s final words at the end of her poem read, “Beauty can love a Beast”. Thus the reader will conclude “happily ever after” as in the original fairy tale.

These poems are clever new form of poetry for children to imagine other outcomes by challenging them to create their own as the first poem goes, “Who says it’s true--down is the only view? If you believe that, this poem will challenge you.” It can also inspire children that poetry does not always have to follow a concrete set of rules but can be fun, tricky, and magical.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Cybils Award Winner 2010

Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books Winner 2010

American Library Association Notable Books for Children Winner 2011

Flicker Tale Children's Book Award Nominated 2011

Red Clover Award Nominated 2011

Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award Nominated 2013

Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominated 2011

Beehive Children's Poetry Book Award Nominated 2012

North Carolina Children's Book Award Nominated 2012

Maryland Children's Book Award Nominated 2011

Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominated 2012

Land of Enchantment Book Award Winner 2011

Volunteer State Book Award Nominated 2013

New York State Charlotte Award Nominated 2012

Sequoyah Book Award Nominated 2013

“Each of these 12 unrhymed poems about a classic fairy tale is paired with the same poem, written backward, which provides another point of view. The richly painted facing artwork is split into two interrelated pictures. Singer calls her new form "reverso" and notes that it is especially useful for telling two characters' sides of a story.”  From School Library Journal, February 1, 2012

“The 14 pairs of poems easily distinguished by different fonts and background colors allow changes only in punctuation, capitalization, and line breaks, as Singer explains in an author's note about her invented poetic form. It is a form that is both challenging and fun rather like creating and solving a puzzle. Singer also issues an invitation for readers to try to write their own reversos on any topic. Matching the cleverness of the text, Masse's deep-hued paintings create split images that reflect the twisted meaning of the irreverently witty poems and brilliantly employ artistic elements of form and shape Cinderella's clock on one side morphs to the moon on the other.” From Booklist, January 1, 2010

“Through a poetic invention she dubs the reverso, Singer meditates on twelve familiar folktales, and, via the magic of shifting line breaks and punctuation, their shadows. Each free-verse poem has two stanzas, set on facing columns, where the second is the first reversed. Similarly, bifurcated illustrations, Shrek-bright, face the cleverly constructed and insightful poems.” From Horn Book Guide, June 2, 2010

5. CONNECTIONS

Lesson ideas from Penguin’s Classroom Classics at: http://www.penguin.com/static/images/yr/pdf/LessonPlans_MirrorMirror.pdf

Students can discuss reflection and refraction and the use of mirrors in science. How does the reverse poetry relate to the function of mirrors? Discuss the differences in refraction and reflection. Students will conduct experiments to observe differences. How is this similar or different in Mirror, Mirror?

Visit Marilyn Singer’s website at http://marilynsinger.net/ to learn about the author, books, and fun facts.

Read and compare Singer’s other reverso poetry books, FOLLOW FOLLOW and  ECHO ECHO.

Have students create their own reverso poem following Singer’s writing tips which can be printed off from her website for their writer’s workshop binders at:

Ten Tips For Writing Poetry from http://marilynsinger.net/onwriting/ten-tips-for-writing-poetry/
Singer advises children to have fun, read lots of other poetry, pay attention to the world around them, and listen to the music of the words. 

Visit illustrator Josée Masse’s website at http://www.joseemasse.com/ and allow students to explore the illustrations. Then the students will illustrate their reverso poem utilizing Masse’s style.