Module 2: NCTE and Cybils Award Winner

 Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse



Bibliography

Singer, Marilyn. (2010). Mirror mirror: A book of reversible verse. Illustrated by Josée Masse. Dutton Children’s Books. ISBN: 9780525479017


Summary

Mirror, Mirror is a collection of fairy tale themed poems by Marilyn Singer.  On each two-page spread a set of two poems appear side by side on a single page with an illustration on the neighboring page.  The two poems are what are called reverso poems where the same words are used for each poem, but the second poem is rewritten with the words of the first poem in reverse from bottom to top.  The reverso poems tell two sides of the same story from each of a selection of traditional well-known fairy tales.  The front cover alludes to this style of poetry with its colorful illustration featuring a king looking into a mirror and seeing a queen looking back from the reflection.  Each illustration throughout the book follows this same reflection theme over the vertical line which corresponds to the appropriate poem written on the accompanying page.  There is no table of contents, but each set of two poems shares a title at the top of the page.  The author also includes a note at the back of the book with an explanation about reversos and how she began writing them.


Analysis

The poet does not use rhyme in this collection of poems, but there is a rhyme that is consistent with each set of poems.  The poems have the same rhythm both forward and in reverse which keeps with the idea that the poems are reflections of each other.  The poet spent more time on word choice to make sure the poems could be read in reverse without a loss of meaning and that the meaning made sense for another character’s perspective from the story. 

While paying close attention to word choice the author also used words that were both familiar and stretched the reader’s vocabulary.  Words like dawdle, fragrant, betrayed, and snippy used throughout the poems will allow the reader to expand their own verbal and literary word banks.

This collection of poetry in addition to the vibrant, colorful, and detailed illustrations will keep any elementary aged student interested.  The fact that these poems are based on classic fairy tales that most elementary students have been exposed to already allows them to connect to the poems and characters throughout the collection.  It may even encourage students who haven’t read some of these fairy tales to pick up a fairy tale book to learn more about the story.  An upper elementary or middle school student may even enjoy reading these poems and trying to create their own reverso poems.


Poem

The Sleeping Beauty and the Wide -Awake Prince

 

Typical.                                                                    In a fairy tale

Hacking through briars,                                           it’s no fun being

looking for love—                                                   out in the world,

the prince at work.                                                   never

But I have to be                                                       partying,

sleeping,                                                                  never

never                                                                       sleeping.

partying,                                                                 But I have to be

never                                                                       the prince at work,

out in the world.                                                     looking for love,

It’s no fun being                                                     hacking through briars.

in a fairy tale.                                                         Typical.

 

Activity

This collection of poetry would be fun to read in conjunction with a book of classic fairy tale stories.  The teacher could read a fairy tale story and corresponding set of poems to the class or even partner students up and assign them a fairy tale and related poems.  After reading the story and poems students could discuss how they relate to each other and how the different characters could have different perspectives of the same event.  As a challenge students could create a poem for another character from the same fairy tale story.

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