MIRROR, MIRROR by Marilyn Siger

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Singer, Marilyn. 2010. MIRROR MIRROR. Ill. By Josee Masse. NewYork: Dutton Children’s Book. ISBN 0525479015



PLOT SUMMARY

Marilyn Singer takes the sights and images of popular fairy tales and tells the traditional stories of various characters through their own poetic voice. This is a collection of short poems which, when flipped to read bottom to top, offer new points of view. Beginning with Cinderella, Singer brings to the reader her double life; next is the Sleeping Beauty, introduced through her own story but also through the “wide-awake” prince’s perspective. As the book progresses, the reader meets the Ugly Duckling and his doubtful self, Rumplestiltskin and the Nameless girl and many other children’s favorites.



CRITICAL ANALYSIS

All poems in this original and unique collection are created in reversible verse. The concept is simple, yet provoking: on one side of the page the poem is written down and on the other side the exact words are arranged backwards going up. In the endnotes of the book, Marilyn Singer shares that she experimented with reading poems down a page and then up the page. The outcome impressed her and led to the invention of “reverso” style. Amazingly, even though no other changes are made, except some in capitalization, punctuation and line breaks, the reverse of the poems completely alters the perspective of the story, depicting two opposing sides.

The poems do not follow consistent fixed metrical pattern. Using short lines, Marilyn Singer offers imaginative and nontraditional elements of poetic language that emphasize her capacity to achieve an emotional impact beyond literal words. Her clever selection of words is genuinely skillful and brings out visions of the character’s feelings and actions depicted in the verses.

Each poem is accompanied by illustrations, helping the readers to recognize images and characters, already familiar to them from the fairy tales. Vibrant, bold drawings by Josse Masse are felicitously complementary to the imaginative poems. They decorate the pages, hinting at content but never interfering with interpretation. It is easy to notice the vast range of intense colors and shades throughout the book. The artist plays with the contrast of colors, reinforcing the “reverso” style.

This beautiful book of poems will please not only poetry lovers, but also all fairy tales devotees.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

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

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.”

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.”

CONNECTIONS

- Encourage children to try creating a short reverso poem
- Introduce other Poetry Books by Marilyn Singer:
Creature Carnival. ISBN 0-786-81877-8
Eggs. ISBN 0-823-41727-1
Tough Beginnings: How Baby Animals Survive. ISBN 0-805-06164-9