BIBLIOGRAPHY
Singer, Marilyn. 2010. MIRROR MIRROR. Ill. By Josee Masse. NewYork: Dutton Children’s Book. ISBN 0525479015
PLOT SUMMARY
Using a new form of poetry called reverso, Singer tells many well known fairy tales from two different points of view. Reverso poetry has readers read the poem the traditional way, from top to bottom, then it reverses the order of the lines to tell another side of the poem. Singer uses this form of poetry to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood from Red’s point of view, and then when the poem reverses it’s from the Wolf’s point of view. She also tells the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Goldilocks from two different points of view. Students will enjoy reading and rereading the poems to see the different viewpoints.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The cover artwork for this book gives readers a hint that it is going to tell opposing points of view of a story. The illustrations are a strong point in this book, giving the reader an idea of who is going to be sharing their point of view. The way the pages are split in half gives a visual cue to go along with each version of the poem. The simple shading of the text page also separates the two poems.
The change of punctuation from one version to the other emphasizes the changes in meaning. Such as: “But a girl mustn’t dawdle. After all, Grandma’s waiting” when told from Red’s point of view, but “After all, Grandma’s waiting, mustn’t dawdle…But a girl!” when told from the Wolf’s point of view. Singer also stresses different words by changing the font slightly.
Each word was chosen very carefully to fit into this style of poetry. I imagine that Singer spent many, many hours choosing the words needed to make these poems make sense reading them down and reading them up.
I have shared this book with the ELA teachers' from my school and they have all found it very interesting. We have decided to use it during “Teen Read Week” and have students try to write their own simple reverso poem.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review: “Singer uses "reverso" poems, a form of her creation, to show that there are two sides to every fairy tale”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “The vibrant artwork is painterly yet unfussy and offers hints to the characters who are narrating the poems. An endnote shows children how to create a "reverso" poem. This is a remarkably clever and versatile book that would work in any poetry or fairy-tale unit. A must-have for any library.”
BOOKLIST Starred review: “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.”
CONNECTIONS
PLOT SUMMARY
Using a new form of poetry called reverso, Singer tells many well known fairy tales from two different points of view. Reverso poetry has readers read the poem the traditional way, from top to bottom, then it reverses the order of the lines to tell another side of the poem. Singer uses this form of poetry to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood from Red’s point of view, and then when the poem reverses it’s from the Wolf’s point of view. She also tells the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Goldilocks from two different points of view. Students will enjoy reading and rereading the poems to see the different viewpoints.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The cover artwork for this book gives readers a hint that it is going to tell opposing points of view of a story. The illustrations are a strong point in this book, giving the reader an idea of who is going to be sharing their point of view. The way the pages are split in half gives a visual cue to go along with each version of the poem. The simple shading of the text page also separates the two poems.
The change of punctuation from one version to the other emphasizes the changes in meaning. Such as: “But a girl mustn’t dawdle. After all, Grandma’s waiting” when told from Red’s point of view, but “After all, Grandma’s waiting, mustn’t dawdle…But a girl!” when told from the Wolf’s point of view. Singer also stresses different words by changing the font slightly.
Each word was chosen very carefully to fit into this style of poetry. I imagine that Singer spent many, many hours choosing the words needed to make these poems make sense reading them down and reading them up.
I have shared this book with the ELA teachers' from my school and they have all found it very interesting. We have decided to use it during “Teen Read Week” and have students try to write their own simple reverso poem.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review: “Singer uses "reverso" poems, a form of her creation, to show that there are two sides to every fairy tale”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “The vibrant artwork is painterly yet unfussy and offers hints to the characters who are narrating the poems. An endnote shows children how to create a "reverso" poem. This is a remarkably clever and versatile book that would work in any poetry or fairy-tale unit. A must-have for any library.”
BOOKLIST Starred review: “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.”
CONNECTIONS
*Have students try to write a short reverso poem
*Use when studying point of view with students
*Use when studying point of view with students
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