Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer (Genre: Poetry)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Singer, Marilyn. 2010. MIRROR MIRROR. Ill. by Josée Masse. New York, N.Y.: Dutton’s Children’s Books. ISBN 0525479017


PLOT SUMMARY
This is a book of verse or reversible poems which is written in such a way that it could be read from top to bottom as one poem and from bottom to top as another poem. The book is a collection of 14 reverso poems of popular fairy tales like Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Ugly Ducking, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White , Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hansel and Gretel, Princess and the Frog and Beauty and the Beast.
The two poems are written in such a way that the readers will get two completely different points of view from the same fairy tale. For example, in the poem about Cinderella, the first poem is about her situation where she is doing all the chores and is unable to go to the ball, but in the reverse poem, the view point of the step sisters is told.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Author Marilyn Singer has created a unique and creative way of retelling popular fairy tales through verse, reverso or reversible poems.
The poems can be read from top to bottom as well as from bottom to top using the same exact words. By using the same exact words and making some changes in the capitalization and punctuation, the author completely changed the perspective of the reverse poem. This gives the readers, two different view points of the same tale. I felt that the author has created an amazing outcome from this unique experiment.
The colorful and textured illustrations by Josée Masse compliment the poems. Each poem has its own set of illustrations. One half of the poem depicts one view point and the other half depicts another view point. The illustrator has done justice to the book by providing illustrations that reinforce the theme of reverse poems. The pictures play with the readers mind in the same way as the poems do.
It is a beautiful book of poems that will keep the readers engaged. Readers who enjoy reading fairy tales will find a new way to look at fairy tales through this innovative poem book. It will be appreciated by all readers but it will be hard by young readers to understand the two view points of the same poem.


AWARDS/ REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist: “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.”

BookPage: “Clever and delightful—those are the best words to describe Mirror Mirror, a new collection by noted poet Marilyn Singer.”

Kirkus Reviews: “A collection of masterful fairy-tale–inspired reversos—a poetic form invented by the author, in which each poem is presented forward and backward.”

School Library Journal: “This is a remarkably clever and versatile book that would work in any poetry or fairy-tale unit. A must-have for any library.”


CONNECTIONS
• Children could be encouraged to write a short reverso poem using simple words.
• As an art project, children could be encouraged to draw a mirror image of any picture.
• Children could be asked to talk about their favorite fairy tale.
• Related Books:
-Maclachlan, Patricia.2010. WORD AFTER WORD AFTER WORD. New York.N.Y..:Katherine Tegen Books. ISBN 0060279710.