Current Reads & Reviews: Poetry Picture Book MIRROR MIRROR

Singer, Marilyn, and Josée Masse. Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books, 2010. ISBN: 0525479015

Summary: Singer's innovative poetry picture book takes popular childhood fairy-tales and mixes them up a bit. She writes a poem then takes it and reverses the poem so it is read from the bottom up coining this "reverso." The reverse reading of the poems convey two different points of view. Each poem comes with bold brightly colored illustrations that create a dark versus light effect representing good versus evil in some. While some of the poems were really good, making you laugh out loud, others were lacking in flow, although very clever!

Analysis: This picture book of poetry is quite different from the norm... The clever concept of writing the poems one way then again backwards setting them right next to each other gives the reader a different perspective, showing that there are always two sides to every story. Singer creates the poems in reverse only changing the punctuation and capitalization here and there. Some poems had rhythm and rhyme while others did not. The poems that had rhyme created a nice flow for the reader while the ones that didn't lacked flow. She writes descriptively but not figuratively. Short clippy sentences made it hard to imagine but the illustrations are bold and bright. She splits the page in half one side dark and the other light representing good versus evil. At the end of the book Singer provides the reader with an end note about reversing poems that will help students write their own "reverso" poem. Below was one of my favorite poems  and illustrations. Click image to enlarge.

Accolades/Scholarly Reviews: ALA Notable Books 1944-97 (And Ongoing); Texas Bluebonnet Book Award Nominees 2004-05 (And Ongoing); Kirkus Reviews 2010 Best Children's Books and many more.

From Booklist 01/01/2010: "This ingenious book of reversos, or poems which have one meaning when read down the page and perhaps an altogether different meaning when read up the page, toys with and reinvents oh-so-familiar stories and characters, from Cinderella to the Ugly Duckling."

From School Library Journal 01/01/2010: "The vibrant artwork is painterly yet unfussy and offers hints to the characters who are narrating the poems. 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: Once the students read this reversible poetry book, they will be asking to create their own. Have the students select a poem from a different poet and apply the "reverso" then share with each other. Also a great way to teach the concept of dichotomy. There is a lesson in punctuation and capitalization as well. Seeing how one little change can create a totally different effect.