Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer (Genre: Poetry)

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

B. SUMMARY
This is a book of verse, specifically a book of reversos or reverse poems, a form created by author/poet Marilyn Singer. A reverso involves writing a piece of verse which when read downwards, makes one poem. The same poem, when read upwards, still makes sense (with changes allowed only in punctuation and capitalization), but is an altogether different poem with a meaning opposite to the ‘mirror’ poem.

This book contains altogether 14 reversos, of which 13 are abbreviated poems of various familiar fairy tales such as Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, The Princess and the Frog, and, Beauty and the Beast. The twist here is that the poems are retellings of each of these fairy tales from the point of view of the main characters in the stories, e.g. “In the Hood” contains two poems, one of which is from Little Red’s point of view and the other the Wolf’s.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is a truly unique take on both the poetry form as well as a creative retelling of familiar and beloved fairy tales. By utilizing a new form of verse, the reverso or reverse poem, author/poet Marilyn Singer has created an interesting and fun book of poems that makes for an engaging reading experience. Though this can be read to and by readers of all ages, the different points-of-view as represented by the reversos might be better appreciated by older children and adults.

Most of the reversos are well-composed, but some did feel a bit forced. “Rapunzel’s Locks” for example, appeared rather awkward when read in the reverse form. Many others however, were witty and irreverent. “In the Hood”, “The Doubtful Duckling”, and “Mirror Mirror” contain some amazing wordplay which will delight anyone who loves puzzling out the meaning of a poem, even though the meaning is largely straightforward here. In “Mirror Mirror” the last two sentences of the first poem are “What would you like? Time to get off your feet,” Snow White persuades Sleepy, Dopey, and Happy. But the reverse poem ends with “Mother knows best. Let me help you get some rest.” Here, Mother is the wicked stepmother who is plotting Snow White’s death, and the malignant meaning is cleverly conveyed here.

The illustrations by Josée Masse are beautiful and vivid and cleverly complement the reverse motif in the poems. Opposite each reverse is a full-page illustration which is divided into two, one half depicts one point of view, and the other half another point of view. “Mirror Mirror” is a wonderful and engaging reading experience.

D. AWARDS/ REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
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.”

E.CONNECTIONS
*Children can be encouraged to create reversos of their own, based on either a fairy tale they are familiar with, or on any topic that interests them.
*As an extension, students can be encouraged to find examples of reversos on the Internet (with sites previously bookmarked by the teacher) and use them as part of a compare and contrast/ critical analysis exercise:
http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry-stretch-results-reverso.html
* This book can also be used as part of a Language Arts lesson which introduces students to various forms of poetry, such as Haiku, Rhyming Poetry, etc.