Mirror Mirror

Written by Marilyn Singer

Illustrated by Josee Masse

Bibliographic data

Singer, Marilyn. 2010. Mirror Mirror. Ill. by Josee Masse. New York: Dutton Children's Books. ISBN 9780525479017

Plot Summary

This book is composed of a collection of short poems. All the poems are based on fairy tale characters. The intriguing part is that every poem is also written in reverse order. This allows the reader to see a new perspective of the characters.

Critical Analysis

Mirror Mirror is a book that contains 14 pairs of poems that are very different than the next. Each pair of poems are on one page that separates them by color. If the poems are on the right side of the book, the forward poem has a white background where the reverse has a tan background. If the poems are on the left side of the book, then the colors are reversed. Not many people would catch this if they were not really focused on analyzing. The page opposite the poems has a beautiful illustration of the fairy tale associated with the poems. Masse creates very bright character driven illustrations that are split images which reflect the changed meaning of the reversed poem. 

Each poem is written in free-verse with short lines. I can envision some children having difficulty understanding when to breath and pause while reading aloud. There are only a few poems where there is some rhyming. The first poem in the book is one example. "Who/ says/ it's true-/ down/ is/ the only view?/ If you believe that,/ this poem/ will challenge/ you./ Up/ is/ something new." 

Singer does an amazing job at selecting each word and phrase so that it will also make sense when read in reverse. Singer's text and Masse's illustrations provide a great pairing for the reader to visually see the happenings in the poems. 

I think this collection of poems to be very fun and extraordinary. I found it helpful that Singer provides a page at the end of the book that explains "reverso" and how she started.

Review Excerpts

• "Similarly bifurcated illustrations, shrek-bright, face the cleverly constructed and insightful poems." Horn Book starred review
• "A must-purchase that will have readers marveling over a visual and verbal feast." Booklist starred review
• The Cybil Award for Poetry 2011

Connections

• Have the students compare and contrast the difference between each poem and its reverse.
• Have the students write their own reverso.